What is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus is a progressive disease of the outer transparent layer of the eye ball (cornea) affecting young adults mostly in their twenties. It is characterized by Progressive thinning of the normally round cornea causing it to bulge forward and assume a cone like shape. This irregularity in the cornea results in the formation of a distorted image of objects on the retina & gives rise to Blurred vision. It generally affects both eyes but can also occur unilaterally.

What are the symptoms & signs of keratoconus?

Keratoconus is diagnosed usually on routine eye examination by the eye doctor. Keratoconus causes myopia or nearsightedness & astigmatism. The patient experiences frequent change in glasses prescription with fluctuation in vision. Some patients also have glare & sensitivity to light especially during night.

In advanced stage of Keratoconus, corrective prescription glasses do not help the patient to see clearly and they have to switch to using hard or semi-soft contact lenses.

Your eye doctor practitioner can diagnose early stage of keratoconus after a detailed eye examination which includes Retinoscopy, Slit lamp examination and sophisticated tests like Topography (Corneal Mapping) to check the shape and curvature of cornea & Pachymetry to determine the thickness of the cornea.

Suspect Keratoconus when:

• A late teen or young adult myope is no longer correctable to 20 / 20 at the phoropter
• There is a change in astigmatism. (cylindrical power)
• There is a change in axis of astigmatism.
• Frequent change in eye glass power.