Unilateral lattice corneal dystrophy with c.1501C>A (p.P501T) and c.1733T>C (p.L578P) variants in the transforming growth factor-beta induced gene: a case report.

Background: Corneal dystrophies (CDs) significantly affect quality of life. However, their progression and characteristics remain unclear. This study aimed to report a case of a unilateral variant of lattice corneal dystrophy (LCD) with c.1501C>A (p.P501T) and c.1733T>C (p.L578P) variants in the transforming growth factor-beta-induced (TGFBI) gene.

Case Presentation: A 39-year-old Japanese woman presented with ocular pain and decreased visual acuity in the left eye. A slit-lamp examination of her left cornea revealed recurrent corneal erosion complicated by contact lens-associated infectious keratitis, fine lattice lines, and central corneal haze in the anterior stroma, with no opacities in the right cornea. In vivo confocal microscopic examination of the right eye showed highly reflective branching filaments in the corneal stroma, whereas the left cornea was unremarkable. Based on these clinical findings, we diagnosed the patient with unilateral LCD. The molecular genetic analysis revealed the TGFBI: a c.1501C>A (p.P501T) variant in exon 11 and the c.1733T>C (p.L578P) variant in exon 13.

Conclusion: A 39-year-old female patient with LCD with c.1501C>A (p.P501T) and c.1733T>C (p.L578P) TGFBI variants exhibited unilateral corneal findings, including recurrent corneal erosion, fine lattice lines, and central corneal haze in the anterior stroma. The study's findings could benefit CD treatment.