HYPERCALCEMIA AND BAND KERATOPATHY

Abstract
ABNORMALITIES in serum calcium values have only recently been recognized to have ocular manifestations. The first reported observation is that of Meesmann (1938).1In his study on hypocalcemia Meesmann included a case in which band-shaped opacities of the cornea and opacities of the conjunctiva developed while the blood calcium was high. The cause of the hypercalcemia was overdosage with AT 10® (dihydrotachysterol), which the patient had been taking for hypoparathyroidism following thyroidectomy. The patient also had glaucoma, and Meesmann stated the belief that the primary cause of the opacities was glaucomatous dystrophy of Bowman's membrane, but he suggested that the hypercalcemia might have been a contributing cause and pointed out significantly that the opacities became less as the blood calcium was reduced to normal. Haldimann (1941)2described band-shaped opacities of the cornea in 2 patients with sarcoid and hypercalcemia. In view of the fact that the opacities developed