Importance of Screening & Early Diagnosis

We have been talking about how cross linking can help patients suffering from Keratoconus. We may’ve a bigger issue to confront. What about before cross linking, what about the diagnosis and screening of Keratoconus. It is important for patients with Keratoconus to be screened as early as possible. The best results with corneal cross linking eye procedure are obtained when the disorder is arrested early. As the disease progresses the loss of visual acuity increases dramatically, and the earlier it is detected the easier and higher possibility that full visual acuity returns. You may want to read some frequently asked questions on keratoconus and cross linking.

Some symptoms of Keratoconus are blurry vision, increased light sensitivity, eye strain, headaches/general eye pain, eye irritation/excessive eye rubbing. A caution should be noted that these symptoms can also be indications of other eye problems. That is why it i important to see a keratoconus expert. The doc in conjunction with measurement of the curvature of the cornea, a depth map and examining the eyes can identify the disease more early and accurately.

From a doctor’s perspective, as they physically examine the eye with a microscope, the signs they  would be looking for are corneal thinning, Fleischer’s ring, Vogt’s striae, and apical scarring. The measuring of the corneal curvature can be done three different ways: first would be keratometry, second is corneal tomography, and third is a corneal OCT. Though all three should performed for increasing the accuracy of the measurement.     

Now that you have a basic understanding of importance of early detection try our quiz on keratoconus.