Cornea
What is cornea?
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye’s total optical power The cornea can be reshaped by surgical procedures such as LASIK.
While the cornea contributes most of the eye’s focusing power, its focus is fixed. Accommodation (the refocusing of light to better view near objects) is accomplished by changing the geometry of the lens.
The most common corneal disorders are the following:
- Corneal abrasion– a medical condition involving the loss of the surface epithelial layer of the eye’s cornea as a result of trauma to the surface of the eye.
- Corneal dystrophy– a condition in which one or more parts of the cornea lose their normal clarity due to a buildup of cloudy material.
- Corneal ulcer– an inflammatory or infective condition of the cornea involving disruption of its epithelial layer with involvement of the corneal stroma.
- Corneal neovascularization– excessive ingrowth of blood vessels from the limbal vascular plexus into the cornea, caused by deprivation of oxygen from the air.
- Fuchs’ dystrophy– cloudy morning vision.
- Keratitis– inflammation of the cornea.
- Keratoconus– a degenerative disease, the cornea thins and changes shape to be more like a cone.
- Corneal foreign body – a foreign object present in the cornea, one of the most common preventable occupational hazards.
