Specialty ophthalmology ICD-9-CM 371.43 eMedicine oph/105 | ICD-10 H18.4 DiseasesDB 31296 | |
 | ||
Band keratopathy is a corneal disease derived from the appearance of calcium on the central cornea. This is an example of metastatic calcification, which by definition, occurs in the presence of hypercalcemia.
Contents
Causes
Most common cause JRF.
Causes can include trauma such as surgery.
Some eye drops can also cause band keratopathy, especially PV Carpine (a.k.a. Pilocarpine).
Hypercalcemia develops in patients with renal failure, sarcoidosis, hyperparathyroidism and certain malignancies.
Symptoms
Symptoms include pain and decreased visual acuity.
Treatments
The calcium can be scraped off the cornea or removed with a laser. This can restore sight, but it can take a number of months for normal vision to return as the cornea will be damaged during the operation. This cannot be repeated too many times as it would make the cornea thinner and thinner.