Progression of Keratoconus in Turkish Adult Patients

Objective: To evaluate progression of keratoconus in adult patients diagnosed as keratoconus and to compare it with the disease progression in pediatric patients reported in the literature. Material and Methods: Five hundred and forty-seven patients diagnosed as keratoconus were reviewed retrospectively and 143 eyes of 106 adult patients were included into the study. The patients were assigned into two groups: Group I was aged 18-24 years and Group II was aged over 24 years. Data about age, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) with glasses, spherical equivalents (SE), corneal thickness, simulated mean kerotometry (SimK) and follow-up periods were collected. The patients having progression in keratoconus were recommended a treatment with corneal collagen cross-linking. Results: The mean age of the patients was 21.34±1.75 years and 30.26±5.10 years in Group I and Group II respectively. The mean follow-up period was 11.96±7.24 months in Group I and 15.44±12.6 months in Group II. The rate of the progression was 25.6% and 23.1% in Group I and Group II respectively, though there was not a significant difference (p=0.549). The rate of the progression was 24.4% in the adults recently diagnosed as keratoconus at the end of a mean follow-up period of 12.74±10.60 months. Conclusion: About one fourth of the adult patients required cross-linking therapy during a one-year follow-up and 75% of the adult patients with keratoconus did not have disease progression at the end of a one-year follow-up. Before adults recently diagnosed as keratoconus are advised to have cross-linking therapy, they should be given an anti-allergic treatment and followed for the disease progression.