CONTEMPORARY
KERATOCONUS CARE
Loretta Szczotka, O.D. |
Please note that the comments below are
representative of remarks made in the chat room, and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the moderators, the guest expert, or the GPLI.
- Dr. Szczotka is seeing more cases of permanent corneal warpage from long
term wear of PMMA which can mimic keratoconus.
- Pellucid's patient's lenses usually ride low. It can be difficult to
differentiate the two conditions without topography. Thinning is usually inferior with
Pellucid's. Pellucid's patients can generally be refracted well, with lots of
against-the-rule cylinder.
- Dr. Szczotka recommends a low Dk material for keratoconus.
- New research presented at ARVO shows that KC tissue has a deficiency of
protease inhibitors so overactive tissue destruction and thinning occur, this has not been
documented in normal corneas.
- The best starting lens is one that just clears the apex of the cone.
Apical clearance is preferred to 3-point touch. Use the axial maps to find the apex of the
cone and start from there. If the lens rides too low go flat and try for lid-attachment.
- If a GP simply won't work (and you've exhausted all options) a soft
toric will often work. The biggest problem with soft torics is their unpredictable powers
when on the eye; you may go through 1/2 dozen lenses and bizarre over-refractions until
they work in KC.
- EyeSys gives better maps than many topographers on advanced cases because
the placido rings are wider. This group had no experience with Euclid.
- Optical zone is usually 1.5-2.0 mm less than the OAD, if tight in the
periphery can go a little smaller.
- Patients like the ease of use with liquid enzymes, but samples are hard
to come by.
- Discussion of replacement times on high Dk lenses-- some docs shy away
from high Dk because they feel it doesn't give good value. Others cited cases were high Dk
materials lasted as long as 18 months.
- Much time was devoted to discussion of specific keratoconus cases that
attendees were in the process of fitting.
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