An in vivo study of corneal surface morphologic features in patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca.

We used wide-field color specular microscopy to study the corneal epithelium of 13 normal subjects and 13 patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca. The frequencies of small, medium, and large cells were different in the two groups, with a shift to small cells in patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Increased uptake of rose bengal dye, filaments, coarse mucus plaques, and pre-exfoliative sheets were also found in the patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca. These findings suggest accelerated epithelial cell loss from the surface of the eye in keratoconjunctivitis sicca.