Study of corneal copper deposits in Wilson's disease by in vivo confocal microscopy

Purpose: To study corneal copper deposits in Wilson's disease (WD) patients by traditional biomicroscopy and in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). Methods: Twenty WD patients and 20 matched controls underwent an ophthalmic examination in one eye randomly chosen, including slit lamp biomicroscopy with Goldmann's three-mirror contact lens examination and LSCM, in order to evaluate copper deposits in the peripheral cornea. Results: No control subjects had corneal changes at both traditional biomicroscopy and LSCM. Only 25% of WD patients had detectable slit lamp changes, compared with 75% with LSCM examination. All cases detected by slit lamp were detected by LSCM. A significant correlation (p < 0.01) was found between deposit intensity at LSCM and daily urinary copper excretion. Conclusion: LSCM could detect copper deposition in WD corneas in more patients than traditional examination; it may therefore provide important information in cases of suspected WD diagnosis.