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Keratoconus is an eye disorder which begins between the ages of 10 and 20, usually in both eyes, and causes progressive "ectasia" (expansion or dilatation) of the cornea which becomes more cone rather than dome shaped. Because of the varying thickness of the cornea, a person with keratoconus has distorted vision (astigmatism).
Keratoconus is usually a sporadic condition but can be seen in members of the same family. If you have keratoconus, contact lenses are generally well tolerated and correct the visual disturbances well. The visual disturbance that occurs with keratoconus is an irregular astigmatism and contact lenses need to adjust for the distortion and provide better vision. There may be moderate or severe distortion (astigmatism) and blurry (near- and farsighted) vision. Symptoms may be unilateral initially and may later become bilateral. In most people, the cornea will stabilize after a few years without ever causing severe vision problems. The indications for corneal transplantation are poorly corrected vision with contact lenses (by far the most common) and acute hydrops (a very rare complication). Keratoconus is the most common indication for corneal transplant in Australia and has the best success rate. Only about 1% of those with keratoconus will require corneal tranplantation. For patients with no scarring near the centre of the cornea, another option may be surgically grafting a layer of epithelial cells to flatten the cone-shaped cornea in a process called epikeratophakia. It has results comparable to corneal transplantation and, if it is unsuccessful, it can be followed by corneal transplantation. Article #8025 Copyright (c) 2002 McKesson. All Rights Reserved. |
