The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography

Purpose. This study aims to correlate the clinical signs of keratoconus (KC) which include superficial apical scarring, Fleischer rings, and Vogt striae with best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) and corneal tomography findings. Patients and methods. A retrospective observational study. 72...

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Main Authors: Ahmed E. M. Shehata, James W. Foster, Albert S. Jun, Uri S. Soiberman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Ophthalmology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/4130643
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author Ahmed E. M. Shehata
James W. Foster
Albert S. Jun
Uri S. Soiberman
author_facet Ahmed E. M. Shehata
James W. Foster
Albert S. Jun
Uri S. Soiberman
author_sort Ahmed E. M. Shehata
collection DOAJ
description Purpose. This study aims to correlate the clinical signs of keratoconus (KC) which include superficial apical scarring, Fleischer rings, and Vogt striae with best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) and corneal tomography findings. Patients and methods. A retrospective observational study. 72 consecutive KC patients seen by the senior author over the course of one year were included in this case series. Eyes with pellucid marginal degeneration, postrefractive ectasia, history of a corneal graft, prior corneal collagen cross-linking, intracorneal ring segments or hydrops were excluded from analysis. Subsequently, the final analysis included only treatment-naïve KC eyes with varying degrees of disease severity. Results. BSCVA with manifest refraction was 0.5 logMAR higher in eyes with apical scarring (p<0.001). Eyes with apical scarring had worse vision than eyes with Fleischer rings alone (0.43 logMAR higher in the former, p<0.009). Eyes with apical scarring had higher keratometry readings (K2 = 64.56 ± 12.89 D versus 49.07 ± 6.61 D, p<0.001); this was also true for eyes with Fleischer rings compared with ring-free eyes (K2 = 56.23 ± 11.52 D versus 48.91 ± 7.79 D, p<0.001) and eyes with Vogt striae (K2 = 56.19 ± 10.27 D versus 50.68 ± 9.21 D, p=0.01). Atopic disease was a risk factor for scarring: odds ratio (OR) = 2.87 (p=0.03). The OR of observing Fleischer rings in KC eyes was 12% per year (p=0.001). Additionally, each mm of corneal apex displacement from the pupillary center led to a 0.76 logMAR increase in visual acuity (p=0.001). Conclusion. The presence of apical scarring and Fleischer rings on biomicroscopy can aid the clinician in making the distinction between severe or long-standing disease (respectively). Apical scarring is a sign of advanced disease and is associated with worse BSCVA and tomography findings. Fleischer rings are markers of intermediate disease and their presence correlates with disease duration.
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spelling doaj-art-7fa418a1df7e485e943aaa9e41052cf52025-08-20T03:35:20ZengWileyJournal of Ophthalmology2090-004X2090-00582020-01-01202010.1155/2020/41306434130643The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal TomographyAhmed E. M. Shehata0James W. Foster1Albert S. Jun2Uri S. Soiberman3The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USAThe Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USAThe Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USAThe Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USAPurpose. This study aims to correlate the clinical signs of keratoconus (KC) which include superficial apical scarring, Fleischer rings, and Vogt striae with best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) and corneal tomography findings. Patients and methods. A retrospective observational study. 72 consecutive KC patients seen by the senior author over the course of one year were included in this case series. Eyes with pellucid marginal degeneration, postrefractive ectasia, history of a corneal graft, prior corneal collagen cross-linking, intracorneal ring segments or hydrops were excluded from analysis. Subsequently, the final analysis included only treatment-naïve KC eyes with varying degrees of disease severity. Results. BSCVA with manifest refraction was 0.5 logMAR higher in eyes with apical scarring (p<0.001). Eyes with apical scarring had worse vision than eyes with Fleischer rings alone (0.43 logMAR higher in the former, p<0.009). Eyes with apical scarring had higher keratometry readings (K2 = 64.56 ± 12.89 D versus 49.07 ± 6.61 D, p<0.001); this was also true for eyes with Fleischer rings compared with ring-free eyes (K2 = 56.23 ± 11.52 D versus 48.91 ± 7.79 D, p<0.001) and eyes with Vogt striae (K2 = 56.19 ± 10.27 D versus 50.68 ± 9.21 D, p=0.01). Atopic disease was a risk factor for scarring: odds ratio (OR) = 2.87 (p=0.03). The OR of observing Fleischer rings in KC eyes was 12% per year (p=0.001). Additionally, each mm of corneal apex displacement from the pupillary center led to a 0.76 logMAR increase in visual acuity (p=0.001). Conclusion. The presence of apical scarring and Fleischer rings on biomicroscopy can aid the clinician in making the distinction between severe or long-standing disease (respectively). Apical scarring is a sign of advanced disease and is associated with worse BSCVA and tomography findings. Fleischer rings are markers of intermediate disease and their presence correlates with disease duration.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/4130643
spellingShingle Ahmed E. M. Shehata
James W. Foster
Albert S. Jun
Uri S. Soiberman
The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography
Journal of Ophthalmology
title The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography
title_full The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography
title_fullStr The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography
title_full_unstemmed The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography
title_short The Correlation between Corneal Findings and Disease Severity in Keratoconus per Scheimpflug Corneal Tomography
title_sort correlation between corneal findings and disease severity in keratoconus per scheimpflug corneal tomography
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/4130643
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