20 Chapter 1  The Morphology of Herpes Simplex Virus Epithelial Keratitis

Precursors of HSV Geographic Lesions

a

eroded (cell-denuded) area

Fig. 1.26  a–c In this HSV lesion, (a) an almost cell-denuded area (black arrow) is surrounded by epithelial flaps (white arrows; composed photograph). (b) The eroded area appears dark; the diseased epithelium is grayish. (c) Green-stained tear fluid is pooling within the eroded area and diffusing into and/or below the flaps. The dye is still present in the tear film. A further loss of substance might result in a lesion similar to that shown in Fig. 1.27 (the markers indicate corresponding locations)