[Imaging of corneal dystrophies: Correlations between en face anterior segment OCT and in vivo confocal microscopy].

PURPOSE:To evaluate the usefulness of en face Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for evaluation of corneal dystrophies and to describe correlations with in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). PATIENTS AND METHODS:Thirty-two eyes of 16 patients with 4 types of corneal dystrophies (epithelial basement membrane dystrophy, Fuchs dystrophy, Reis-Bücklers corneal dystrophy and Crocodile Shagreen dystrophy) were enrolled in this study. Axial and reconstructed en face scans were acquired using OCT. Images were then correlated to IVCM findings. RESULTS:En face OCT provided new insights into the structure, size and depth of corneal tissue alterations in various corneal dystrophies. OCT en face images were well correlated with IVCM features. Despite lower resolution than IVCM, en face OCT offers the advantages of being non-invasive and allowing the analysis of larger corneal areas. CONCLUSION:En face OCT provides useful new information in corneal dystrophies. This imaging technique will probably increase in popularity in the near future for the assessment of various anterior segment diseases.