Conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia presenting as corneal ulcer

PURPOSE: To report a case of conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia present ing as corneal nicer. METHOD: Case report of a 28-year-old man who presented with sudden onset of pain, redness, and watering in the right eye. Examination of right cornea revealed deep stromal infiltrate inferonasally. Adjacent to the infiltrate and straddling the inferonasal limbus, a reddish well-defined sessible lesi on with prominent blood vessels was seen. After corneal scraping for microb iological evaluation, the patient was treated with frequent instillation of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride 0.3% eyedrops. RESULTS: Corneal scraping revealed no microorganisms. Infiltrate resolved p romptly after excision of the lesion. Histopathologic evaluation of the exc ised lesion revealed conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: This case highlights the fact that conjunctival intraepithelia l neoplasia at the limbus may present as corneal ulcer. This ulcer could ha ve occurred secondary to a dellen formation and epithelial breakdown predis posing to a corneal ulcer. (Am J Ophthalmol 2000;129:92-94; (C) 2000 by Els evier Science Inc. All rights reserved.)