Fig. 2. Characteristic changes of keratomalacia in autopsy specimen from a severely marasmic 1-year-old Indonesian boy with bilateral corneal ulceration, a serum vitamin A level of only 10 μg/dl, and a holo retinol binding protein of only 2 μg/ml. The sharply demarcated area of stromal necrosis is covered by keratinized epithelium. There is little inflammatory infiltrate and no bacteria in the area of collagen dissolution. (Sommer A, Green WR, Kenyon KR: Clinical-histopathologic correlation in xerophthalmic ulceration and necrosis. Arch Ophthalmol 100: 953, 1982) |