Rapid measurement of corneal diameter in children: validation of a clinic-based digital photographic technique.

Measuring corneal diameter is often difficult in infants, but its importance in certain circumstances cannot be overstated. Most available techniques for obtaining corneal diameter measurement are threatening to the child: the gold standard measurement technique relies on calipers and a ruler and necessitates general anesthesia for most children under the age of 7 years. Consequently, this important element of the pediatric eye examination is often not performed in clinic. We describe and prospectively validate a digital photographic technique for measuring corneal diameter, which is easy to perform, quick, nonthreatening, and provides an accurate corneal diameter measurement.