keratoconus - Misdiagnosed ?

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Ryan - 09 Nov 2006 08:33 GMT

Is there a definite way of diagnosing keratoconus ?

18 years ago when I was 17 I was told I had keratoconus, and I started
wearing Gas Permeable Lenses.

I have been moving around the world a bit ever since then and have
failed to maintain an ongoing relationship with an optometrist A couple
of years ago I had a one off consultation with an ophthalmologist in
the UK, who said he did not think I had keratoconus. Last time I
visited my most regular optometrist I was told my astigmatism numbers
had actually improved but my myopia had deteriorated slightly.

The problem I have now is I can no longer tolerate my lenses more than
an hour a day (I was wearing them 12 hours at one stage). I am also in
a new country - just moved here.

On the positive side my vision with Glasses has improved a lot from
what it used to be.

I was wondering how to determine if I do have keratoconus ? I th

My numbers are as follows
Eye prescription
r-2 | -4 x65
L -3.75 | -3 x85
pd 66

Any comments will be helpfull

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Mike Tyner - 09 Nov 2006 14:20 GMT

> Is there a definite way of diagnosing keratoconus ?

Advanced or typical KC is pretty easy to diagnose.

For early or uncertain KC, corneal topography is the most revealing method,
but it's subject to interpretation. There are many variations of KC, and it
doesn't always progress.

Even before there were topographs to over-read, my mom was diagnosed with KC
by a famous eye surgeon. But she never progressed to a full-blown bulge and
never developed hemosiderin, corneal scarring, or a positive Munson sign.

> visited my most regular optometrist I was told my astigmatism numbers
> had actually improved but my myopia had deteriorated slightly.

That's very encouraging. In KC, astigmatism doesn't often "improve."

-MT

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CatmanX - 09 Nov 2006 20:43 GMT

First, as Mike said, you need topography for positive diagnosis.

The astigmatism may have changed due to wear or non-wear of your
lenses, so don't get too carried away just yet, as well KC will often
produce funny corneal astigmatism due to its strange shape.

You may have lenticonus, that can look a bit like KC when you ret and
this may have clouded the judgement. Topography will determine
positively the answer, so why your specialist has not done this yet is
beyond me as it is the fistst thing I do when I get funny refraction or
ret results.

dr grant

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