Imaging Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy in Clinical Practice and Clinical Trials

Corneal tomography has an emerging role in the assessment of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) in clinical practice and potentially for future clinical trials. Posterior elevation and pachymetry maps derived from elevation based Scheimpflug tomography can detect early corneal edema, even at a subclinical stage, enabling clinicians to better counsel patients about their vision and the risk of disease progression with and without cataract surgery. Tomographic imaging provides a functional assessment of corneal endothelial health, and could enable objective assessment of FECD progression, or regression, in response to novel therapeutic interventions. Clinicians and investigators should adopt Scheimpflug imaging for the assessment of FECD over traditional morphologic imaging modalities.