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Macular Corneal Dystrophy

The macular corneal dystrophy is a type of condition that develops in the stroma of cornea or corneal stroma. Corneal dystrophy is already common, and it is said that this type of eye disorder can be inherited throughout the years. People who have corneal dystrophy can cause damage to other offsprings. The corneal dystrophy includes many types, and there are some more severe than others, these type of disorders are varied through clinical manifestation, histology, and pathology. Each study creates a wide array of information on the possible disorder that one can claim either naturally or through their parents or relatives, throughout the years of research and creating a hypothesis. They have already created some advanced technologies that can help analyze clearer the type of disorder that one may develop. There are certain developments in the technologies that are occurring and also the type of treatment they can process overtime for those patients suffering a corneal dystrophy condition. The research may not have been cleared and create a satisfactory result, but still, there are some characteristics that the studies are going somewhere.

The macular corneal dystrophy is a type of condition that varies the type of corneal dystrophy and also known as the Fehr corneal dystrophy. The occurring name of the condition is being named after a German ophthalmologist in the year 1871 up to 1959 which is Sir Oskar Fehr. This rare type of corneal dystrophy creates a huge commotion on the corneal stroma in where this condition originates itself. There are signs to look out to when one may be experiencing this kind of condition, the first thing that people can notice are opacities that are currently developing the cornea, and even attacks of pain may be experienced. This kind of signs usually occurs in the first decades, and without any notice or further inspections, this kind of illness can process over time. Developing this kind of condition may turn into some serious disorder or conditions that the person experiencing it may suffer more when it is not treated earlier.

The Signs and Symptoms of Macular Corneal Dystrophy

The first symptoms to be experienced are in the ages 6 p to 9 years old, or as said in the first decade of life. This is an inborn kind of condition that may be encountered throughout the years. There are no serious signs that one can encounter during this time, only the symptoms such as pain, there are also other symptoms, but it cannot be easily felt or diagnosed with one person. The next is the second symptom. This comes to be more progressive than the first type of symptoms. One the second symptom, the person can experience the changes of his or her visions that can age from the second up to the third decade of his years. On the fourth to fifth decades of his living, the person can now experience a severe impairment in his visions. These can be most seen at the age of 35 and above.

The severe things that one can experience are that it develops punctuate opacities, looks gray and the experience can last through a minute. During this time, the corneal sensitivity will be reduced, meaning you will not be able to feel the symptoms attacking you. There will be painful attacks that come with photophobia, recurrent erosions, and other foreign body sensations can be felt by most of the patients going on this kind stage of their conditions. The said condition is most common to occur in the land of Iceland, the following statements and accounts hold the country for almost having one-third of people who are experiencing corneal dystrophy, and the treatments of corneal grafts are being placed in that country.

Genetics

Macular corneal dystrophy like other types of corneal dystrophy is to be inherited. During the fermentation of the parent, the fetus may encounter some recessive trait coming from the parent, and this is one of the traits that can be inherited. This is caused by the lack of configuration of the keratan sulfate that is needed by the body or may also come in abnormal amounts that can lead to corneal dystrophy. The cause of this condition may be from the mutation of both partners containing carbohydrate sulfotransferase 6 or the CHST6 type in the gene in where the offspring may inherit and encountered during the fermentation of the cells. This gene is an encoding enzyme that is specifically designated in corneal dystrophy. There two types of macular corneal dystrophy mutations; the first type is that it can lead to various mutations in the inactivation of the CHST6 enzymes. The second type is that the inactivation can be caused by replacements or large deletions that can happen in the gene.

Treatment for MCD

The treatment for the condition of macular corneal dystrophy is through corneal transplantation. This process also called as the corneal grafting. It is a surgical procedure that is done on the patients that need this kind of operation. Although this kind of operations has not 100% being successful, it is one of the known treatments that one can undergo to aid their condition. In this procedure, the damaged cornea is being replaced by a donated corneal tissue. This will depend on the donor. The donor of the corneal tissue must have no experience or past illness to any corneal issue that they encounter throughout their life. This process is called grafting. The process of replacing the cornea is called the penetrating keratoplasty. Another type is the lamellar keratoplasty. This is only replacing a part of the cornea.

In the condition of having macular corneal dystrophy, the person will need the penetrating keratoplasty process in order to remove and replace the cornea with corneal dystrophy fully. It is advisable to create a create as early as the first decades of life, upon the occurring years, the condition may worsen the condition and maybe lead to complications in treating this type of disorder.