Subclinical keratoconus among patients visiting laser Unit - Hilla teaching hospital in Iraq

Abstract EN

Background / Aim : subclinical Keratoconus is a terra used to indicate a patient with inferior or central steepening of cornea on topography where the clinician suspects that it may progress to keratoconus.

Diagnosis of sub-clinical keratoconus among myopic patients seeking for correction of their refractive errors by exciter laser, to avoid surgery for those patients and consider them at risk of developing post-operative corneal ecstasies which is the most severe post-operative complication in photorefractive surgery.

Subjects and Methods : One thousand and two hundred myopic patients who attended laser unit / Hilla Teaching Hospital, during a 1.5 year duration, seeking for correction of their refractive errors.

Many investigations were done including visual acuity, slit lamp examination, corneal topography, keratometry and tachymetry.

Results : the present results indicating that 49 (4%) of patients diagnosed as having subclinical keratoconus.

Out of these cases, 27 (55 %) were males and 22 (45 %) were females.

Forty one of them (83.6 %) were less than 25 years old.

Conclusion : sub-clinical keratoconus is one of the challenging problems facing refractive surgeons and is one of the most important and preventable causes of corneal ecstasies following photorefractive surgeries.