Pellucid marginal corneal degeneration: report on corrective surgery.

A successful corneal wedge resection was performed to correct the visual impairment in the left eye of a 30-year-old male who suffered from bilateral pellucid marginal degeneration. The patient had visual impairment in both eyes; it was worse in the left. Best corrected visual acuity in the left eye before surgery was 20/800 with 15.5 diopters (D) of corneal astigmatism. After surgery, corrected visual acuity was 20/50+, and astigmatism was reduced to 5.0 D. Further reduction in astigmatism from 5.0 D to 3.0 D was achieved by horizontal corneal relaxing incisions at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. I believe this is the first report of the wedge resection procedure to correct visual impairment in pellucid marginal degeneration. The procedure may be an effective surgical treatment for this unique disorder.