This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Bilateral changes in corneal nerve plexus seen in unilateral herpes zoster ophthalmicus
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with unilateral herpes zoster ophthalmicus had significant loss of corneal nerve plexus and corneal nerve sensation, according to a study.
Investigators analyzed 27 eyes with herpes zoster ophthalmicus and their clinically unaffected fellow eyes in comparison with 15 normal controls. All patients and controls underwent bilateral in vivo confocal microscopy and corneal esthesiometry.
Eyes affected with herpes zoster ophthalmicus had a significant decrease (all P < .0001) in the subbasal corneal nerve plexus compared with controls, including total nerve length (595.8 µm/frame vs. 2,258.4 µm/frame), total nerve number (5.4 vs. 13.1), number of nerve branches (3.2 vs. 8.4) and main nerve trunks (2.3 vs. 4.7).
The subbasal nerve plexus in the clinically unaffected fellow eyes also demonstrated a significant decrease (all P < .01) compared with controls, including total nerve length (1,053.1 µm/frame), total nerve number (8.3) and main nerve trunks (3.1).
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts