TGFBI

This is an anterior corneal dystrophy involving the epithelium and Bowman membrane.  Opacities consisting of spots and lines form in the central portion of the anterior cornea creating haziness with relative sparring of the periphery.  These can be seen as early as 4-5 years of age but few symptoms occur until the epithelium breaks down causing painful corneal erosions.  Visual acuity eventually drops as the corneal haze increases along with increasing irregularity of the epithelial surface.

Ultrastructural studies reveal degenerative changes in all epithelial cells and almost complete Bowman membrane replacement with disoriented collagen fibrils.

A comparative histological study of Reis-Bucklers and Thiel-Behnke dystrophies concluded that these are distinct CDB (corneal dystrophy Bowman) disorders and suggested the former be called CDB type I, and the latter CDB type II.  Type II is considered unique on the basis of the ‘curly’ fibers seen in the Bowman and subepithelial layers, while type I has bandshaped granular Masson-positive subepithelial deposits and ‘rod-shaped bodies’ resembling granular dystrophy.  Type I described here generally leads to greater vision loss than type II.

There is little to support the designation of a corneal dystrophy as 'Avellino type' but it is included in this database because it is entrenched in the literature.  It has features of both lattice dystrophy, type I, and granular dystrophy type I, which might be expected since all of these result from mutations in the same gene, TGFBI on chromosome 5.  Not surprisingly, reported cases have clinical and histological features of both lattice and granular dystrophy and hence are labeled as having combined granular-lattice corneal dystrophy.  There is considerable variation of the nature and quantity of the stromal deposits both within and among families, a common characteristic of autosomal dominant disorders.  Even though clinical evidence may suggest primarily lattice or granular dystrophy, histological studies can reveal changes characteristic of both.

Early cases could be traced to the Avellino region of Italy from which the title was derived but more recent reports have described families from around the world.

Lattice corneal dystrophy type I is one of the more common corneal dystrophies and occurs throughout the world.  Randomly oriented linear opacities resembling cotton threads accumulate in the central portions of the stroma.  These usually become apparent in the first decade of life although they are sometimes seen in infancy.  The peripheral cornea is relatively spared and intervening stromal areas are clear.  This is a progressive disorder in which vision during childhood is often normal but by the fifth and sixth decades most patients have severe visual impairment due to increasing accumulations of amyloid.  Corneal erosions may occur in the absence of stromal infiltrates.

The corneal opacities in this disorder are usually located in the anterior stroma of the central cornea, and consist of discrete grayish-white, irregular granules with sharp margins.  The peripheral cornea and areas between the opacities remain clear.  The opacities may be apparent in the first decade but vision remains good throughout childhood.  The epithelial surface is usually smooth in children but adults can develop irregularities.  As the opacities enlarge and grow in number the cornea becomes increasingly opaque and older patients experience considerable loss of vision.  There is some variation in the number of opacities among individuals and considerable clinical heterogeneity occurs both within and between families.  The histologic appearance of the corneal deposits are said to be characteristic with eosinophilic deposits in the anterior stroma secondary to accumulations of mutant transforming growth factor beta induced protein.

The number and morphology of the granular deposits change throughout life, influenced to some extent by episodes of recurrent corneal erosions and age of patients.  Deposits become more annular and lattice-like in morphology, especially in the third decade and become more discoid by the fifth decade. 

It has been reported that the morphology and function of the meibomian glands are altered in this disease as well.

This type of anterior corneal dystrophy is genetically heterogeneous (caused by mutations in more than one locus). Recurrent corneal erosions are the main clinical feature and can begin in the first and second decades.  The epithelium is irregularly thickened while the Bowman layer and basal lamina of the basement membrane have degenerative changes which lead to the clinically evident honeycomb pattern of opacities.  Advanced changes in these tissues eventually leads to some vision loss.

The honeycomb pattern of degenerative changes in the corneal epithelium and Bowman membrane helps to distinguish this disorder from other anterior corneal dystrophies.  These are more prominent centrally with relative sparing of the juxtalimbal areas.  The epithelial basement membrane may be missing in some areas.  Histology is required for a definitive diagnosis with electron microscopy revealing characteristic 'curly' collagen fibrils in the subepithelial and anterior stromal tissues.  These degenerative changes tend to recur even after ablative procedures.

There is a great deal of clinical heterogeneity and the diagnosis is often unclear especially in younger individuals.  No doubt much of this is due to the fact that mutations in the major gene (TGFBI) responsible are also responsible for at least 5 other heritable corneal dystrophies and the argument can be made that all are variants of the same condition (vida infra).