A Confocal Microscopy Study of the Anterior Corneal Mosaic in the Sub-Basal Nerve Plexus.

In vivo confocal microscopy of the corneal subbasal nerve plexus and assessment of its morphology promises to provide a novel, highly sensitive tool for early diagnosis and therapy monitoring of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Ridge-like tissue deformations in the region of the subbasal nerve plexus, induced by pressure upon the corneal surface, can prevent the imaging of sub-basal nerves over the entire field of view and impede the assessment of nerve morphology. We present an investigation of the distribution of the deformation heights, yielding a mean value of 28.9 mu m in our data. Given the depth of focus of the used confocal microscope of 6-7 mu m, our results strongly suggest the need for three-dimensional imaging methods for the reliable assessment of sub-basal nerve morphology.