Keratometry in children.

Corneal curvature was evaluated in 70 children by central keratometric measurements. The mean keratometric reading in each age group was seen to decline systematically from birth to about 54 months of age. The mean in the newborn-to-6-month-old group was 47.59 D; in the 12-18-month-old group it had decreased to 45.56 D. The cornea appears to stabilize at about 54 months, with an average reading of 42.69 D. Evaluation of 11 eyes diagnosed as having persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous revealed that eyes with this diagnosis generally have steeper corneas than normal eyes at any given age.