ORPHA:98957
Gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy
Also known as: GDCD · Primary familial amyloidosis of the cornea · Subepithelial amyloidosis of the cornea
Query health: suspect — Only one of 3 strategies returned hits (phrase).
Publications
311
67.2th percentile
Trials
0
Interventional, condition-specific
Researchers
976
Distinct authors in sample
Gene link
TACSTD2
Definitive
Readiness
3/6
Stages with a signal
Clinical definition (Orphanet)
Gelatinous drop-like corneal (GDCD) is a form of superficial corneal characterized by multiple prominent milky-white gelatinous nodules beneath the corneal epithelium, and marked visual impairment.
How rare: 1-9 / 1 000 000 — roughly one to nine people per million. In a city the size of Kolkata, perhaps a few dozen.
Cross-references
Joined from Mondo / Orphanet. MeSH labels may enter searches; UMLS / OMIM / NCIT are stored for reference.
- MONDO:0008777
- MeSH:C535480
- OMIM:204870
- UMLS:C0339273
- NCIT:C142805
Additional Mondo synonyms (4)
corneal amyloidosis · gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy · primary familial amyloidosis of the cornea · subepithelial amyloidosis of the cornea
Research stages
Trial readiness signals
Where this condition sits on an open-data research pipeline — not how close a treatment is, and not medical advice. Empty stages often mean “not in these databases under this Mondo ID,” not “impossible.”
3/6 stages with a signal
No specific-condition interventional trial, but broader-category trials exist — discuss eligibility with a clinician.
- Gene identifiedPresent
Definitive — TACSTD2
- LiteraturePresent
311 matched papers (105 in last 10 years) Source
- Phenotype characterisedNot checked
Not yet enriched from Monarch / HPO
- Animal modelNot checked
Not yet enriched from Monarch / Alliance
- Orphan designationNot checked
FDA/EMA orphan-drug designation not enriched yet
- Interventional trialPartial
None under the specific name; 36 for broader category corneal dystrophy
Biology
Genes and phenotypes
Gene–disease validity from GenCC, plus phenotypes and animal models joined from Monarch Initiative via Mondo ID — not a clinical diagnosis aid.
Do we know what causes it?
Yes — we know a specific gene responsible (TACSTD2).
GenCC classification: Definitive.
Phenotypes (Monarch / HPO)
Not enriched in this build — Monarch phenotype joins were not run for this record.
Animal models (Monarch / Alliance)
Not enriched in this build.
Literature
Is anyone studying this?
311
311 papers have ever been published on this condition (under this name). For scale, breast cancer has over 700,000. Median papers in the last 10 years for a rare disease in this dataset (publications denominator n=5449) is 41.
311 papers since the earliest indexed year in this search — median last-10-year count for a rare disease in this dataset is 41 (publications denominator n=5449).
105 in the last 10 years · medium confidence · 67.2th percentile (publications denominator)
Phrase hits: 311 · MeSH hits: 0
Who's working on it?
976
Distinct author names in 200 sampled papers — named people below.
Who's working on it?
No interventional trial matched this name; these authors publish on it in the sampled literature — a practical starting point for contact.
- 01Kinoshita S22 papers · 2019
Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 645 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji Kawaramachi, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-0841, Japan. skinoshi@ophth.kpu-m.ac.jp
Papers in Europe PMC - 02Nishida K17 papers · 2022
Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Papers in Europe PMC - 03Kawasaki S13 papers · 2020
Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. bluenova@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp
Papers in Europe PMC - 04Tsujikawa M13 papers · 2020
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Japan. moto@clgene.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Papers in Europe PMC - 05Maeda N9 papers · 2020
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Room E7, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan, nmaeda@ophthal.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
Papers in Europe PMC - 06Nakatsukasa M6 papers · 2019
Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Papers in Europe PMC - 07Araki-Sasaki K5 papers · 2018
Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.
Papers in Europe PMC - 08Hirano K5 papers · 2018
Department of Ophthalmology, Ban Buntane Hotokukai Hospital, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Nagoya, Japan.
Papers in Europe PMC - 09Kanai A5 papers · 2004Papers in Europe PMC
- 10Klintworth GK5 papers · 2009
Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA. klint001@mc.duke.edu
Papers in Europe PMC
Clinical research
Is a treatment being tested?
0
interventional trials for this specific condition
No interventional trial testing a treatment matched this specific condition name on ClinicalTrials.gov (observational studies and pan-disease registries are listed separately when present). 36 trials are registered for corneal dystrophy, the broader category — shown separately because they may or may not enrol this specific subtype.
Data as of 27 July 2026
No matched interventional trials. This is true for 73% of diseases in the trials denominator (5114 of 7003). Here are the researchers publishing on it.
medium confidence · 36.5th percentile (trials denominator)
Recruiting interventional trials
From the matched ClinicalTrials.gov set
No interventional trial testing a treatment was found for this specific condition name on ClinicalTrials.gov.
36 interventional trials matched corneal dystrophy, the broader category — listed below. Those studies are not counted in the condition-specific total.
Broader category: corneal dystrophy
36
Interventional trials for the parent category, exclusive of NCT IDs already counted above. Eligibility for this subtype is not guaranteed.
Worth raising with a clinician. How we count trials.
Recruiting under the broader category
- NCT04440280·RECRUITING·Targeting Reactive Oxygen Species Production as a Novel Therapeutic in Fuch's Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy
Conditions: Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy·Matched via name phrase
- NCT06425666·RECRUITING·Trial Comparing Cataract Surgery With Triple-DMEK in Patients With Cataract and Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy
Conditions: Cataract Surgery · Cataract and Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy·Matched via name phrase
- NCT07539012·RECRUITING·Effect of Descemet Membrane Polishing in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy
Conditions: Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy·Matched via name phrase
- NCT07217249·ENROLLING BY INVITATION·Effect of Donor Diabetes and Other Factors on Corneal Transplant Endothelial Cell Loss and Success at 5 Years
Conditions: Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy · Corneal Endothelial Decompensation·Matched via name phrase
- NCT07024693·RECRUITING·DT-168 in Keratoplasty Patients With Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy
Conditions: Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy · Fuchs·Matched via name phrase
- NCT04129021·RECRUITING·High Resolution, High-speed Multimodal Ophthalmic Imaging
Conditions: Retinitis Pigmentosa · Maculopathy, Age Related · Macular Dystrophy · Macular Edema·Matched via name phrase
- NCT07441616·NOT YET RECRUITING·Partial Range Of Field IOLs in DMEK-Enabled Procedures
Conditions: Cataract · Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy·Matched via name phrase
- NCT07373821·RECRUITING·Influence of Supine Positioning on the Outcomes After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK)
Conditions: Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy · Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK)·Matched via name phrase
- NCT06844123·RECRUITING·Microsurgical Robot-assisted Corneal Transplant
Conditions: Corneal Dystrophy·Matched via name phrase
Where to find support
We do not yet link condition-specific patient organisations. These umbrella groups support undiagnosed and ultra-rare families:
India — NPRD
Last verified 2026-07-26This ORPHAcode is not on our curated NPRD list (direct or Mondo-parent match). That does not decide clinical eligibility; families in India should ask a notified Centre of Excellence about current coverage.
Hand-curated for this project. ORPHAcode mappings are best-effort and may be incomplete or imprecise for umbrella categories. Parent (Mondo) matches mean the policy lists a broader category — confirm eligibility with a Centre of Excellence. Financial entitlements summarised from public policy statements and may change. This is not official government guidance.
How we counted this
Europe PMC query (preferred label + any corrected label + Orphanet and Mondo exact synonyms, stoplisted; unioned with resolved MeSH labels when available). UMLS / OMIM / NCIT cross-references are stored on the overview but are not added to the query string.
"Gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy" OR "Primary familial amyloidosis of the cornea" OR "Primary familial amyloidosis of cornea" OR "Subepithelial amyloidosis of the cornea" OR "Subepithelial amyloidosis of cornea" OR "corneal amyloidosis"
MeSH descriptor terms unioned into the query: Corneal dystrophy, gelatinous drop-like
ClinicalTrials.gov query (quoted phrases + MeSH via query.cond, plus recall-expansion terms when used):
"Gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy" OR "Primary familial amyloidosis of the cornea" OR "Primary familial amyloidosis of cornea" OR "Subepithelial amyloidosis of the cornea" OR "Subepithelial amyloidosis of cornea" OR "corneal amyloidosis" OR "Corneal dystrophy, gelatinous drop-like" OR "TACSTD2" OR "epithelial and subepithelial corneal dystrophy" OR "lattice corneal dystrophy" OR "superficial corneal dystrophy"
Recall-expansion terms: TACSTD2, epithelial and subepithelial corneal dystrophy, lattice corneal dystrophy, superficial corneal dystrophy
Study-type breakdown: 0 interventional · 0 observational · 0 expanded access. Only interventional studies enter the trial headline.
Parent-category trials query:
"corneal dystrophy"
Query health: suspect — strategies attempted: phrase, mesh, recall-expansion; with hits: phrase
Run this search on ClinicalTrials.gov
Synonyms dropped by stoplist: GDCD
Confidence reasoning
- Preferred label is multi-word and distinctive
- 1 synonym(s) dropped by stoplist (may under-count)
- No label/synonym collisions with other diseases in this corpus
Ingested 2026-07-27T05:47:14.306Z
