Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from May, 2017

When Will Keratoconus Stop Progressing?

I have keratoconus patients as young as 8 and as old as 50.  And one of the questions that they usually ask is when will their keratoconus stop progressing?  It has been found that kids usually progress faster and leads to more advanced cases, while for those that were diagnosed in their 20's would not progress as fast compared to the kids.  The protocol would still be to have collagen cross linking if the cornea is still thick enough for the procedure.  With collagen cross linking, riboflavin drops in combination with UV rays strengthen the collagen fibrils of the cornea, enabling the resistance of the cornea to get thinner and protrude.  A study also showed that the as one ages, there is a natural process of cross linking, and thus it was concluded that around the 4th decade of life, keratoconus would be stable already.    That is good news I guess, getting older has its perks, but if you have keratoconus and has reached the age of 40,  you are entering the stage of presbyopia.