Clinical Profiles, Topographic Grading, and Assessment of Keratoconus Patients from Assam, India

Purpose: To determine the clinical, demographic, and grading assessment based on the Amsler-Krumeich (AK) classification of 98 keratoconus (KC) eyes presented to Chandraprabha Eye Hospital, a tertiary eye care center in Jorhat, Assam.Materials and methods: This is a single-center, cross-sectional, hospital-based study.We recruited a total of 98 eyes from 50 patients with a clear diagnosis of KC.The demographic and relevant clinical data (visual acuity, corneal biomicroscopic findings, and refractive and topographic findings) of the patients were collected and documented.Statistical analysis [Chi-square test and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test (CMH)], odds ratio, and risk ratio were carried out to ascertain the inter-relationship across different variables.Results: The mean and median age of onset of KC was 20.8 and 19.5 years, respectively.AK classification revealed grade I (42%), Grade II (29%), Grade III (3%), and Grade IV (26%) of KC eyes.The Chi-square test analyses revealed a significant association ( 0.01) between the grades of KC with age at presentation, Munson Sign, and Vogt's striae.Keratoconus grades were associated with hydrops and eye burning at the 0.1 level of significance (CMH test analysis).The relative risk for the development of Munson sign in males vs females is 1.19 across age-groups (p = 0.12).Conclusion: A considerable proportion of the patients are of initial grade.The mean age of presentation of KC in our cohort is lower than the global mean, with a preponderance of males over females across different grades of KC.Clinical significance: The presence of ocular discomforts (eye burning and redness of the eye) along with clinical signs (Munson sign and Vogt's striae) is indicative of KC in this region.