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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffDoctors may see early signs of Fuchs' dystrophy in people who are in their 30s and 40s. But most people don't experience symptoms or problems until they're in their 50s and 60s. Signs and symptoms usually affect both eyes and may include:
- Blurred vision on awakening that may gradually clear up as the day goes on
- Other types of visual impairment, including distorted vision, sensitivity to light, difficulty seeing at night and seeing halos around lights
- Generalized eye discomfort
- Painful, tiny blisters (epithelial blisters) on the surface of your cornea — caused by excess fluid within the cornea
- A cornea that is cloudy or hazy in appearance
- Blindness — may occur late in the disorder
When to see a doctor
If you experience some of these symptoms, and especially if they get worse over time, see your eye doctor (ophthalmologist or optometrist). If symptoms develop suddenly, call an ophthalmologist for an urgent appointment. Other eye conditions that cause the same symptoms as Fuchs' dystrophy also require prompt treatment.
- Facts about the cornea and corneal disease. National Eye Institute. http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/cornealdisease. Accessed May 31, 2011.
- Clintworth GK. Corneal dystrophies. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2009;4:7.
- Borboli S, et al. Mechanisms of disease: Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy. Ophthalmology Clinics of North America. 2002;15:17.
- Corneal conditions. Cornea Research Foundation of America. http://www.cornea.org/index.php/research/corneal_conditions. Accessed May 31, 2011.
- Afshari NA, et al. Clinical study of Fuchs corneal endothelial dystrophy leading to penetrating keratoplasty. Archives of Ophthalmology. 2006;124:777.
- Visiting your doctor. The Corneal Dystrophy Foundation. http://www.cornealdystrophyfoundation.org/cdfliterature/Visiting_Your_Doctor.pdf. Accessed May 31, 2011.
- Hecker LA, et al. Anterior keratocyte depletion in Fuchs endothelial dystrophy. Archives of Ophthalmology. 2011;129:555.
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