PREVALENCE OF KERATOCONUS IN KASHMIR IN NORTH INDIA: A VIDEOKERATOGRAPHIC STUDY

Abstract

Purpose: To detect the incidence of keratoconus by videokeratography in patients in Kashmir in North India and to describe the clinical characteristics associated with it. Design: Cross sectional study Methodology: This study was carried out on eyes of 212 patients between 5 to 20 years of age presenting to tertiary care hospital of Kashmir in north India over a period of two years. Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA), slit lamp examination, pachymetry, refraction, fundus examination, and corneal topography was done in all the patients and clinical ndings recorded. To detect keratoconus, corneal topography maps were analysed using Rabinowitz-McDonnel criteria. Maps with central corneal power(Kmax) greater than 47.2 diopters and the inferosuperior asymmetry value greater than 1.4 were considered to have a keratoconus pattern. Results: Out of 212 patients, 145 were males and 67 were females. Majority were in the age group of 5- 10 years. Among the study eyes, Kmax> 47.2 D was seen in 10.1 %, Sim K astigmatism > 1.5D in 29%, I-S difference > 1.4 D in 11.79 % , SRAX > 21° in 20% and K max>47.2 D + I-S Difference >1.4 i.e keratoconus pattern was seen in 93 eyes i.e 21.9% Conclusion: Incidence of keratoconus in allergic patients is more when compared to general population of the same age group from previous studies. The videokeratographic examination of patients leads to early detection of mild keratoconus by interpretation of color-coded maps.