Photorefractive keratectomy for myopia in the setting of Thygeson's superficial punctate keratitis

Purpose. To describe a patient with Thygeson's superficial punctate keratit is who underwent photorefractive keratectomy for the correction of myopia. Methods. A 49-year-old woman with unilateral Thygeson's keratitis was exami ned before and after photorefractive keratectomy. Results, a myopic patient underwent photorefractive keratectomy in the left eye and gained 20/20 unc orrected visual acuity. Seventeen months after surgery, symptomatic Thygeso n's keratitis lesions recurred in the peripheral but not the central cornea . Conclusion. Photorefractive keratectomy reliably corrected myopia in a pa tient with previous Thygeson's keratitis. The recurrence of lesions only in the peripheral untreated cornea suggests that the inflammatory signal in T hygeson's keratitis may reside in the superficial corneal stroma.