Posttraumatic recurrent corneal erosion. 1. Clinical and histological studies.

A severe, bilateral, posttraumatic recurrent corneal erosion in a 29-year-old woman was treated by bilateral lamellar keratectomy. The surgical procedure was performed first in the right eye. Under local anesthesia the defective corneal region stained by fluorescein was completely removed. It comprised a lamella measuring 2 X 3 mm and included epithelium and underlying superficial stroma, both of which showed abnormal features. Following this procedure, her right eye was asymptomatic for over 6 yr. Surgical procedure in the left eye was performed in the same manner except that only a part of the stained cornea containing superficial layers of epithelium was removed, in order to prevent central scarring. Despite surgery, the recurrent painful attacks in this eye continued.