In vivo confocal microscopic evaluation of patients with epidermolysis bullosa demonstrates severe loss of corneal nerves.

Leyla Yavuz Saricay, Derya Goksu Fidan, Sara Galinko, Erin Huynh, Ariana Thompson, Vicki M Chen, Pedram Hamrah

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Article in American journal of ophthalmology case reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

Functional OCT with parfocal retinal stimulation enables multi-site optoretinography under a single dark adaptation.Biomedical optics express · 2026
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Authors and funding

7 authors.

Leyla Yavuz SaricayBoston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Derya Goksu FidanKoc University, School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.

Sara GalinkoDana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Erin HuynhDana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Ariana ThompsonPediatric Ophthalmology, New England Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.

Vicki M ChenU.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), Division of Ophthalmic Devices, Boston, MA, USA.

Pedram HamrahUSF Health, Department of Ophthalmology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare inherited genetic disorder associated with severe ocular surface complications and progressive corneal scarring. This case series aimed to structurally characterize and quantitatively analyze central corneal subbasal nerve plexus loss using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in pediatric patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). Observations: This retrospective case series included five pediatric patients with RDEB presenting with ocular and systemic manifestations. In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) imaging showed severe central subbasal corneal nerve plexus loss in 85% of eyes, with a median total nerve density of 0 μm/mm Conclusions and importance: This series identifies profound structural corneal denervation of the central subbasal plexus on IVCM in pediatric RDEB-associated ocular surface disease. The findings support future prospective studies investigating corneal nerve-regeneration and epithelial-stabilization frameworks to preserve long-term visual outcomes in children with RDEB.

Indexed as

Corneal nerve lossEpidermolysis bullosaIn vivo confocal microscopyNeurotrophic keratitis

Identifiers

PMID41716620

DOI10.1016/j.ajoc.2026.102519

PMCPMC12914122

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