Progression of keratoconus in children and adolescents.
AIMS
To evaluate the rates of keratoconus progression and associated factors in eyes of children and adolescents.


METHODS
Retrospective, cohort study of individuals ≤18 years old at the time of keratoconus diagnosis and with at least 6 months of follow-up. Corneal tomography was performed using an Orbscan tomographer (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, New York, USA) to determine whether progression occurred. Tomographic progression of keratoconus was defined as a change in any of the investigated parameters (keratometry values, KMAX, maximum anterior or posterior elevation, central pachymetry, thinnest pachymetry) beyond the limits of repeatability.


RESULTS
148 eyes of 106 patients with a mean age of 15.2±2.5 years were studied over a mean follow-up period of 2.9±2.2 years. The overall rate of tomographic progression was 77.0% (114/148 eyes). Eyes that progressed had more advanced disease at presentation with higher anterior curvature (KMAX55.4±6.3 vs 52.2±5.4 dioptres; p<0.01), posterior elevation (108.2±40.9 vs 86.3±35.6 µm; p<0.01) and lower central pachymetry measurements (442.1±56.7 vs 454.4±47.5 µm; p=0.01). Age at presentation, gender, atopy, documented eye rubbing, ethnicity and duration of follow-up were not significantly associated with progression in the multivariate analyses. There was a higher rate of bilateral progression if at least one eye had severe keratoconus (73.9%) compared with no severe keratoconus in either eye (36.8%; p=0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
A high rate of progression was identified in keratoconic eyes of children and adolescents. More advanced disease at initial presentation may increase the risk of further keratoconus progression.
['Meyer|Jay J|JJ|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3652-0652', 'Gokul|Akilesh|A|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0643-9420', 'Vellara|Hans R|HR|', 'McGhee|Charles N J|CNJ|']
cornea treatment surgery