Prevalence Of Keratoconus In Egyptian Subjects With High Corneal Astigmatism

to determine the prevalence of keratoconus in subjects with astigmatism of two dioptres (2D) or greater using data from the Pentacam Scheimpflug images

This prospective cross-sectional study included 600 eyes of 600 patients with refractive errors aged ≥ 18 years who had no Present or past ocular pathology other than refractive error. Patients were equally divided into Group I (Patients with 2 diopters or greater of corneal astigmatism) and Group II (Patients with less than 2 corneal astigmatism).

This prospective cross-sectional study included 600 eyes of 600 patients with refractive errors aged ≥ 18 years who had no Present or past ocular pathology other than refractive error. Patients were equally divided into Group I (Patients with 2 diopters or greater of corneal astigmatism) and Group II (Patients with less than 2 corneal astigmatism).

the cylinder among normal individuals in group I (high astigmatism) was -2.93 ± 0.89 ranging from -5.00 to -7.0, while that among keratoconus patients was -3.22 ± 1.17 ranging from to -2.00 to -8.00. No significant difference was found (P= 0.107). In group II (low astigmatism) the cylindrical refractive error among normal individuals was -0.7 ± 0.49 ranging from 0.0 to -2.0, while that among keratoconus patients was -0.75 ± 0.43 ranging from to 0.0 to 1.0. No significant difference was found (P= 0.65). It was found that among group I population (high astigmatism) 12.3% diagnosed as keratoconus patients, while 1.7% of group II (low astigmatism) were keratoconus patients

The current study showed that subjects with 2D or more of astigmatism who present to outpatient clinics had higher prevalence of keratoconus than subjects with less than 2 D astigmatism. Therefore, it can be concluded that magnitude of astigmatism can be a risk factor for development of keratoconus.