History of Corneal Dystrophy Focusing on TGFBI-Related Corneal Dystrophy

The term “corneal dystrophy” refers to a group of rare, hereditary, noninflammatory disorders characterized by abnormal deposition of substances in the cornea, first introduced in 1890 by Arthur Groenouw, who used the term, “Noduli Corneae.” Since the slit lamp was not invented until 20 years later and microscopic examination of the cornea was not possible at that time, early descriptions of corneal dystrophies were not always accurate. Arthur Groenouw, Ernst Fuchs (1910), Wilhelm Uhthoff (1915), and Yoshiharu Yoshida (1924) provided an early definition of corneal dystrophies as bilateral, symmetric, progressive corneal opacities that are unrelated to environmental factors and systemic abnormalities. Modern genetic analysis now allows us to better classify and understand the pathogenesis of corneal dystrophies.