In vivo confocal microscopy qualitative investigation of the relationships between lattice corneal dystrophy deposition and corneal nerves

BACKGROUND: To investigate the corneal neurotropic phenomenon in patients with lattice corneal dystrophy (LCD) with in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy (IVCM). METHODS: IVCM was performed on a total of 15 patients (28 eyes) with LCD annually at a follow-up. A collection of the data was acquired to be analyzed. RESULTS: As indicated by the analysis, the LCD patients’ normal corneal stromal nerves (Grade 0) presented a decline with the prolongation of the follow-ups, corresponding to a gradual increase in grade I and II involving amyloid-wrapped nerve fibers, which demonstrated that the growing amount of amyloid deposit due to the corneal nerve invasion increased slowly over time. CONCLUSIONS: The neurotropic phenomenon could increase with its severity in the corneal lesion of the patients with LCD, and also reflect the distribution of the corneal nerves, to some extent. IVCM provides a rapid, noninvasive way to observe the corneal nerves, which can be an efficient means of better understanding the development of LCD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12886-021-02149-1.