Due to infection with a bacterial, viral or fungal infection and the onset of an inflammatory process, ulcerative keratitis or a corneal ulcer may develop. This pathology has other causes, for example, mechanical eye trauma, exposure to chemicals and high temperatures, and neurological disorders. The disease is very common, especially in women over the age of 40.
Creeping corneal ulcer
Factors that provoke the disease are corneal injuries or infection with bacteria, usually Frenkel pneumococcus, rarely - with staphylococcus or streptococcus.
The course of the creeping ulcer is acute, and the development is very rapid. At the very beginning the patient feels a sharp pain in the damaged eye, intense lacrimation is observed.
The name of the type of ailment in question is explained by the peculiarities of the structure of the ulcer on the cornea. It has a regressive and progressive edge. The first gradually heals independently, and the second, slightly elevated, extends to the center of the eye - creeps.
Purulent corneal ulcer
This form of pathology is characterized by the formation of an infiltrate in the lower part of the ulcer. Gradually, such a condensation, called hypopion, increases in size, provoking a deepening of ulceration in the eye, ingrowth into the cornea of deep and superficial blood vessels.
The cause of the purulent ulcer is microtrauma, after which the damaged area of the eye is covered with a white or yellowish serous substance that converts into an exudate.
Central and marginal corneal ulcer
The location of ulceration depends on the factor that provoked it.
Thus, lesions in the center of the cornea occur for the following reasons:
- injuries;
- dry eyes ;
- exophthalmos;
- trichiasis;
- entropion.
Ulcers at the borders with the sclera occur due to the following diseases:
- rosacea ;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- systemic sclerosis.