Keratoconus

Keratoconus is a progressive, non-inflammatory disease of the cornea, which results in its thinning, stretching and protruding, and the cornea acquires a characteristic conical shape. As a result, myopia and irregular corneal astigmatism appear to be very difficult to correct with glasses or lenses. The disease affects both eyes, but to varying degrees. Keratoconus typically occurs during puberty and progresses with age but can occur at any age.

The reasons for the appearance of keratoconus are most likely genetic, but the disease still remains of unknown origin. The condition sometimes occurs in combination with other ocular or systemic disorders – keratoconjunctivitis, retinitis pigmentosa, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, mitral valve prolapse, Down syndrome.

What are the complaints?
Patients complain of decreased vision, blurring and distortion of images, headaches, and so on. The frequent change of prescriptions for glasses and lenses due to the constantly growing myopia and astigmatism, or the inability to correct them, speak of keratoconus.

Diagnostics
Diagnosis is based on:

• the objective state
• the inability to adjust vision with glasses and lenses
• Topography, Keratometry and Corneal Parchimetric Mapping, or Anterior OCT / Pre-Segmental Optical Cohort Tomography. These are the most advanced methods of keratoconus diagnosis.

Treatment
In the early stages of the disease, the treatment is done with the help of glasses and contact lenses. Contact lenses are the better way to slow the progression of the disease.
In the advanced stages of the kerakonus, when correcting with glasses and lenses becomes impossible to resort to surgical treatment. It consists of the Cross-Linking procedure. With the help of a special substance and a UV lamp, the cornea is irradiated, as a result of which collagen fibrils in it thicken and become firmly connected to each other. This leads to an increase in corneal strength and correction of its curvature. This procedure leads to the cessation of keratoconus progression.