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Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis

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Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology

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Synonyms

SLK; Theodore’s superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis

Definition

SLK is a chronic noninfectious inflammatory disorder characterized by inflammation of the upper tarsal and bulbar conjunctiva. It was described by Frederick Theodore in 1963 as inflammation of tarsal and bulbar conjunctiva, punctate staining of the cornea and its adjacent conjunctiva, limbic proliferation, and presence of filaments limited to the superior limbus or upper fourth of the cornea.

Epidemiology

Superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis typically affects women with a female-to-male ratio of 3:1, usually affecting ages 20–60 years with a mean age of 50. There are no reported familial cases but it did affect identical twins. SLK affects people of different ethnic backgrounds and geographical distributions and not related to specific climates.

Etiology

The etiology of SLK is still to be determined as many studies were conducted and the causes are still unknown. Theories suspected a viral etiology but never have...

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Further Reading

  • Gris O, Plazas A, Lerma E, Guell J, Pelegrin L, Elies D (2010) Conjunctival resection with and without amniotic membrane graft for the treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis. Cornea 29:1025–1030

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta A, Morini C, Sachdeva V, Kekunnaya R (2012) Superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis causing chronic ocular irritation in a child. J AAPOS 16:579–581

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  • Krachmer JH, Mannis MJ, Holland EJ (2011) Cornea, vol 1, 3rd edn. Mosby Elsevier, London, pp 623–627

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  • Sahin A, Bozkurt B, Irkec M (2008) Topical cyclosporine a in the treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis. Cornea 27:193–195

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  • Sheu MC, Schoenfield L, Jeng BH (2007) Development of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis after upper eyelid blepharoplasty surgery. Cornea 26:490–492

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Udell IJ, Guidera AC, Madani-Becker J (2002) Ketotifen fumarate treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis. Cornea 21:778–780

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Lojain M. AlBat’hi & Majed Alkharashi

Authors
  1. Lojain M. AlBat’hi
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  2. Majed Alkharashi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lojain M. AlBat’hi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Medical University of Wien Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Wien, Austria

    Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Department of Ophthalmology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Kohnen

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Cite this entry

AlBat’hi, L.M., Alkharashi, M. (2014). Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_919-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_919-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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