Unilateral vortex keratopathy of unknown etiology

A 54-year-old man with noncontributory medical history presented to an ophthalmologist in January 2022 after 10 days of irritation in his right eye. The patient recounts having felt something get into his eye and under his contact lens (CL) while he was climbing into his car, but he was unsure what the foreign body may have been. Initial examination by the clinician found uncorrected distance visual acuity of 20/100-2 with a corneal abrasion, 4+ corneal edema, and 3+ conjunctival injection, for which he was placed on topical antibiotics (ocuflox and tobradex) with a bandage CL. 1 week later, visual acuity was 20/80, corneal edema had improved, and he was noted to have corneal scarring and an epithelial defect. Tobradex was continued while prednisolone drops and preservative-free artificial tears were started. 1 week later, the patient had worsening visual acuity to 20/250 and was referred to our tertiary center. On initial consultation, the patient had an uncorrected distance visual acuity of 20/500 and an uncorrected near visual acuity of >J10 in the right eye. Slitlamp examination of the right eye was significant for vortex keratopathy and mild corneal pannus with 360-degree subtle conjunctivalization of the limbus (Figure 1). The corneal topograph was obtained showing significant surface irregularity on the Placido image (Figure 2). Examination of the left eye was unremarkable. The ocular history is significant for myopia of 4.0 diopters and CL use for 20 years. The patient admits to regularly wearing soft CLs for several days straight and only removing them for a few hours. Antibiotics were discontinued, corticosteroid drops were reduced in frequency, and the patient was continued on preservative-free artificial tears. What imaging might you consider? What is your differential diagnosis at this point? What would be the most appropriate surgical and/or medical interventions? What would you counsel in prognosis for this patient?.