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Summary
Your cornea is the outermost layer of your eye. It is clear and shaped like a dome. The cornea helps to shield the rest of the eye from germs, dust, and other harmful matter. It also helps your eye to focus. If you wear contact lenses, they float on top of your corneas.
Problems with the cornea include:
- Refractive errors
- Allergies
- Infections
- Injuries
- Dystrophies - conditions in which parts of the cornea lose clarity due to a buildup of cloudy material
Treatments of corneal disorders include medicines, corneal transplantation, and corneal laser surgery.
NIH: National Eye Institute
Symptoms
- Eye Symptoms (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
Diagnosis and Tests
- Dilating Eye Drops (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)
- Eye Problems: Symptom Checker Flowchart (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Cornea Transplant (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Keratoconus Treatment Options (National Keratoconus Foundation)
Related Issues
- Corneal Ulcer (Keratitis) (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Dry Eye (National Eye Institute) Also in Spanish
- Eye Infections from Contact Lenses (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Shingles (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Bacterial Keratitis (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Corneal Abrasions (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)
- Corneal Laceration (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Fuchs' Dystrophy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Fungal Keratitis (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Keratoconus Frequently Asked Questions (National Keratoconus Foundation)
- Peripheral Ulcerative Keratitis (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
- What Is a Pinguecula and a Pterygium (Surfer's Eye)? (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- What Is Herpes Keratitis (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
Genetics
- Complete LCAT deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Congenital stromal corneal dystrophy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Fish-eye disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Fuchs endothelial dystrophy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Keratoconus: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Lattice corneal dystrophy type I: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Lattice corneal dystrophy type II: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Meesmann corneal dystrophy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Peters anomaly: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Peters plus syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Images
- Corneal Abrasion (VisualDX)
- Corneal Foreign Body (VisualDX)
- Corneal transplant - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Statistics and Research
- Eye Health Data and Statistics (National Eye Institute)
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Corneal Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Corneal Injuries (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
- How the Eyes Work (National Eye Institute) Also in Spanish
Find an Expert
- American Foundation for the Blind
- American Optometric Association
- Find an Ophthalmologist (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Finding an Eye Doctor (National Eye Institute)
- National Eye Institute
Children
- Corneal Abrasions (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Cloudy cornea (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Corneal injury (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Corneal transplant (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Corneal ulcers and infections (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Fuchs dystrophy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Keratoconus (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish