What is the cornea?

The cornea is the transparent front of the eye that refracts light and provides some of the optical power for you to see. The cornea has 5 layers (from outer to inner):

1. Epithelium - the surface “skin” layer that has regenerative cells, and is coated by your tears

2. Bowman’s layer

3. Stroma - thick, transparent middle layer

4. Descemet’s membrane

5. Endothelium - thin layer of cells that function to pump fluid out of the cornea

FRONT (Epithelium & Bowman’s)

Dry Eye syndrome

Corneal abrasion

Corneal ulcer

Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis (EKC)

Corneal foreign body

Keratoconus

Allergic keratoconjunctivitis

Recurrent corneal erosion

Pterygium

Anterior basement membrane dystrophy

Herpetic keratitis

Thygeson’s SPK

Salzmann’s nodular degeneration

Exposure keratopathy

Neurotrophic keratopathy

MIDDLE (Stroma)

Stromal dystrophys/degenerations

• Granular

• Macular

• Lattice

BACK (Descemet’s & Endothelium)

Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy

Pseudophakic Bullous Keratopathy

Posterior polymorphus dystrophy

ICE syndrome