Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Sep 26, 2022; 10(27): 9776-9782
Published online Sep 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i27.9776
Rare giant corneal keloid presenting 26 years after trauma: A case report
Shang Li, Jiang Lei, Ying-Hui Wang, Xiao-Lin Xu, Ke Yang, Ying Jie
Shang Li, Ying-Hui Wang, Xiao-Lin Xu, Ke Yang, Ying Jie, Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Lab, Beijing 100005, China
Jiang Lei, Department of Ophthalmology, The First People's Hospital of Lanzhou City, Lanzhou 730050, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Jiang L collected and assembled the patient data; Li S and Wang YH wrote the paper; Jie Y and Yang K operated on the patient; Xu XL performed a biopsy of the tumor; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ying Jie, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Lab, No. 1 Dongjiaominxiang Alley, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100005, China. jie_yingcn@aliyun.com
Received: March 10, 2022
Peer-review started: March 10, 2022
First decision: April 13, 2022
Revised: April 22, 2022
Accepted: July 25, 2022
Article in press: July 25, 2022
Published online: September 26, 2022
Processing time: 190 Days and 5.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Corneal keloid is a rare clinical disease with an unknown etiology, which is easily misdiagnosed. Surgery is the most effective treatment but is rarely reported in the literature. Herein, we report the clinical features, histopathology, and surgical outcome of a giant corneal keloid with trophoblastic vessels and discuss the genesis of the mass.

CASE SUMMARY

A 36-year-old young man was admitted to the hospital because of a large mass on the surface of the left cornea. The patient had suffered an injury to his left eye at the age of 6-years-old; however, as the injury did not cause cornea perforation, he did not undergo treatment. Slit lamp exam showed a large, elevated, opaque lesion that covered the entire cornea and protruded from the surface of the eyeball. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) revealed a lesion of irregular density involving the anterior stroma. We suspected a secondary corneal fibroproliferative mass based on the clinical history, and slit lamp and AS-OCT findings. The patient subsequently underwent a superficial keratectomy and keratoplasty, and the final diagnosis of corneal keloid was confirmed by intraoperative histopathological examination.

CONCLUSION

Non-penetrating corneal trauma damages corneal epithelium basement membrane, initiating stromal fibrosis and causing corneal keloids. AS-OCT and biopsy confirm diagnosis.

Keywords: Corneal keloid; Histopathology; Immunohistochemical staining; Anterior segment ocular coherence tomography; Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty; Case report

Core Tip: Corneal keloid is a benign proliferation of fibrous or fibrovascular tissue in the corneal stroma, and is rarely encountered in the clinic. The onset of secondary corneal keloids can occur months to years after the surgery or trauma, and the depth of corneal infiltration varies. Histopathology is the gold standard for diagnosis, but the cause of the disease is not yet clear. Here, we report a case of a giant corneal keloid that occurred 26 years after trauma and discuss the cause in detail.