Description

Keratoconus

What is keratoconus disease?

The outermost layer of the eye-cornea- starts to bulge outward, thus
causing keratoconus disease. The normally round cornea has a dome-like
structure facing outward. Cornea of the patient with this disease becomes thin
and has the shape of a cone. This part of the eye plays a key role refracting
and bending the light entering the eye, transferring it to the inner parts.
This smooth and clear part of the eye has its shape that allow it to refract
the light best. That is why keratoconus disrupts focusing the entry of light
into the eye. Therefore, the patient complains about impaired visions.

What causes keratoconus?

What causes this disease is still debatable; however, it is known to be a hereditary
condition. Rubbing and scratching over the eye are believed to cause it, though
so far there has been no evidence proving such.

What are the symptoms of keratokonus?

It is a progressive, gradual disease, affecting vision of the patient.
While causing myopia and astigmatism, it could end with vision loss in later
stages. It can be controlled using simpler methods if diagnosed early. It is
critical to detect symptoms earlier for keratoconus progresses fast during
younger years of the patient. Burning sensation, eye irritation, redness is a
few of its many symptoms. These are very common with many other eye diseases so
in order not to mix it with something else, further symptoms include
sensitivity to the light, seeing several images when looking at one object,
blurring of vision, glare, ghost images. Visit your eye doctor when you have
these symptoms so that treatment should as soon as possible after diagnosis.

The treatment of keratokonus

Keratokonus is a progressive disease and the symptoms of it become more
prominent day by day. There are three main treatments for this diseases
depending on the patient’s condition and how much has it progressed.

Corneal Crosslinking: a treatment to halt the
progression of the disease. It tends to progress fast at a younger age. First
step of crosslinking is to use vitamin B2 –riboflavin- as eye drops, later an
ultraviolet -uv- light source is used to strengthen the collagen fibers of the
cornea. Adding special bonds between the collagen fibers in your eye is why it
is called crosslinking. Crosslinking can be recommended as a complement to
other treatments.

Intra-corneal rings: after creating a tunnel between
layers of the cornea with laser to insert the ring , your surgeon will place
INTACS in the peripheral cornea. The whole procedure takes 5 to 7 minutes max.
Other people can’t see them and the patient won’t feel them as they are beneath
the cornea’s nerve endings.

Corneal transplantations: Being one of the most
frequently performed surgeries with a very a high success rate, corneal
transplantation is the procedure of replacing your cornea with a healthy one.