Progressive iris atrophy, Chandler's syndrome and the iris naevus syndrome are recognised as subgroups of the irido-corneal endothelial syndrome but in some cases a confusing overlap of the clinical signs is found. The clinical features of five cases selected from 19 patients with this syndrome are described. The findings suggest that the disease can be better subdivided into two groups based on the morphology of the posterior corneal surface as seen with the slit lamp.