Cloudy cornea - Overview

Definition of Cloudy cornea:

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

Common Causes:

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

Causes of clouding of the cornea include:

• Alkali and other 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's syndrome
• Trachoma
• Trauma
• Vitamin A deficiency

Clouding leads to varying degrees of vision loss.