KERATOCONUS

What is Keratoconus?

The cornea which is front clear portion of the eye is normally dome shaped, smooth structure. In keratoconus ( Kerato= cornea, conus=cone shaped) protrusion of cornea occurs leading to abnormally shaped, weak/ fragile outer portion of eye

What are symptoms of keratoconus?

The vision which can not be satisfactorily improved with glasses, often having high cylinder numbers is usually the first symptom. However observant patients may notice glare,haloes, ghosting of images ( seeing shadow or double images)

What causes keratoconus?

1.About 7-10% of patients have family history. i.e hereditary causes ( the disease which can run in families)

2. Majority of patients do have history of frequent and excessive eye rubbing

3. Keratoconus has been associated with certain eye diseases, such as 'allergic' diseases vernal keratoconjunctivitis, atopic keratoconjunctivitis. It has also been associated with retinitis pigmentosa, retinopathy of prematurity and Leber's congenital amaurosis.

4.Diseases which involve 'collagen' in the body such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Down syndrome, and osteogenesis imperfecta have been associated with keratoconus.

Why my vision has decreased?

1.Due to oddly shaped cornea. Our eye can be considered as camera with cornea analogous to camera lens. If the lens has irregular, dented or deformed surface all points in picture may not come to focus. This causes blurring
2. If ignored long enough there may be 'whitening' of cornea leading to opacification condition termed as hydrops.

Is keratoconus curable ? What can i expect over coming years?

Keratoconus is a progressive disease. Conical protrusion of cornea increases along with the time. There are two aspects to the treatment
A.Halting or stopping the disease progression

B. Visual rehabilitation or correction

Over time recovery of vision will depend on extent of involvement. Though majority of people require special contact lenses few patients can obtain good vision with glasses as well if the procedure is done early.

There are plenty of options involved for patients afflicted with keratoconus.

Even in advanced stages the visual gain can be achieved through corneal transplant procedures like DALK- Deep Anterior lamellar keratoplasty, Femto assisted anterior lamellar keratoplasty ( " LASER " based procedure without use of trephine or circular bade used in conventional DALK )

What is the procedure to halt the progression of the keratoconus?

Corneal collagen cross linking is the procedure to be done to halt the progression of the disease. It is known by various names such as C3R, KXL or CXL.

1.The procedure in nutshell strengthens the weakened cornea.
2. Time taken can be variable depending on protocol selected for therapy.
3. There are no cuts or stitches involved in the procedure.
4. The procedure is carried out at our center with top of the line INTACS XL machine

Will C3R lead to improvement in my vision?

NO the intention of procedure is only to halt the disease from progressing or worsening.Although some change in glass number is expected over few months.