Cloudy cornea

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Cloudy cornea

Eye

A cloudy cornea is a loss of transparency of the cornea.

Corneal opacification; Corneal edema

The cornea is normally a nearly invisible, clear structure covering the iris of the eye. Its two purposes are to transmit and focus the light entering the eye.

Causes of cloudy cornea include:

• Chemical burns to the cornea
• Herpetic keratoconjunctivitis (a form of conjunctivitis caused by herpes simplex)
• Infectious diseases
• Poor nutrition
• River blindness (onchocerciasis -- an infection common in parts of Africa)
• Several rare inherited diseases involving abnormal metabolism
• Sjogren syndrome
• Trachoma
• Trauma
• Vitamin A deficiency

Clouding leads to varying degrees of vision loss.

Review Date: 08/03/2010
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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