November 10 is WORLD KERATOCONUS DAY (WORLDKC DAY)

November 10 is WORLDKC Day! I tell my keratoconus patients about it and they were all surprised that there is such a day. It is not actually a celebration that they have keratoconus, but it is a good time to raise awareness about this disease.

Keratoconus is a condition where the cornea becomes thinner progressively over time. Although the real cause is unknown, it is often associated with atopic diseases, history of eye rubbing and may sometimes have a genetic role. Symptoms of keratoconus includes blurring of vision, light sensitivity, ghosting of vision and frequent need to change the prescription. When the central cornea is affected, patient will not be able to achieve 20/20 vision. The younger the patient is diagnosed, the more severe the keratoconus usually is. There is a higher percentage of incidence in Asians with both genders being affected equally. The incidence was estimated to be 1 in 2000, but recent data shows that this ratio seemed to be underestimating the actual incidence of the condition. Many patients are being diagnosed during the screening procedure for refractive surgery, thus numbers that are being revealed now surpasses the ratio of 1:2000. Keratoconus does not usually lead to blindness, but the effect on vision can really be debilitating.

In some cases, keratoconus can be dismissed by others to be blurring of vision due to lazy eyes; and the proper way to diagnose the condition is by getting a corneal map. The advanced technology of corneal topographers can detect even mild conditions, thus allowing earlier intervention such as corneal collagen cross linking which makes the corneal fibers stronger and resistant to thinning. Recently, laser refractive surgery, specifically photo refractive keratectomy (PRK) is combined with collagen cross linking to address both the corneal weakness and the blurring of vision due to the error of refraction. Oftentimes with mild conditions, glasses can still be effective, however as the condition progresses, contact lenses will be the management of choice. Some keratoconus patients would need to undergo corneal transplant, but many surgeries can now be prevented with the availability of specially designed contact lenses such as scleral lenses. In some cases, INTACs are prescribed to flatten the cornea, aiming to help improve the uncorrected vision of the patient, and when patient prefers to have better vision still, contact lenses can still be given.

I have seen patients and parents crying when after 10 or more so years, patient can see again. As an optometrist, it is indeed very rewarding to see these touching moments. Our task besides providing the best vision care for our keratoconus patients also includes creating awareness about the condition, hence the creation of this blog. Visit also worldkcday.com

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