Keratoconus
KERATOCONUS
KERATOCONUS
Overview
Overview
Keratoconus is a degenerative disease of the cornea that causes it to gradually thin and bulge into a cone-like shape. This shape prevents light from focusing precisely on the macula. As the disease progresses, the cone becomes more pronounced, causing vision to become blurred and distorted. Because of the cornea’s irregular shape, patients with keratoconus are usually very nearsighted and have a high degree of astigmatism that is not correctable with glasses.
Keratoconus is sometimes an inherited problem that usually occurs in both eyes.
Signs And Symptoms
- Nearsightedness
- Astigmatism
- Blurred vision – even when wearing glasses and contact lenses
- Glare at night
- Light sensitivity
- Frequent prescription changes in glasses and contact lenses
- Eye rubbing
Detection And Diagnosis
Keratoconus is usually diagnosed when patients reach their 20’s. For some, it may advance over several decades, for others, the progression may reach a certain point and stop.
Keratoconus is not usually visible to the naked eye until the later stages of the disease. In severe cases, the cone shape is visible to an observer when the patient looks down while the upper lid is lifted. When looking down, the lower lid is no longer shaped like an arc, but bows outward around the pointed cornea. This is called Munson’s sign.
Special corneal testing called topography provides the doctor with detail about the cornea’s shape and is used to detect and monitor the progression of the disease. A pachymeter may also be used to measure the thickness of the cornea.
Treatment
Talley Eye Institute is the first practice in the Tri-State area that is treating keratoconus using the FDA approved Corneal Crosslinking procedure. Dwight A. Silvera, MD, FRCSC, DABO, is the surgeon who performs this new Corneal Crosslinking procedure. The video above describes keratoconus and Corneal Crosslinking in more detail.
Crosslinking is essential to strengthen the cornea and halt progression in those with Keratoconus. Once the cornea is stabilized, the final step in vision rehabilitation involves glasses and often special contact lenses, such as scleral lenses, hybrid lenses or rigid gas permeable lenses.
If a patient with Keratoconus doesn’t have crosslinking, the disease can naturally progress and vision deteriorate often to the point where corneal transplant is needed.
