[Corneal endotheliitis. Definition and clinical classification].

Corneal endotheliitis in the narrower sense is the term applied to immune reactions directed against the endothelial cells themselves. Virus antigens, histocompatibility antigens and autoantigens in the cell membrane represent the target for immune attack. The most significant clinical sign of endotheliitis is a strict correlation between the area of endothelial damage and the area of the (immune) precipitates.