PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of atopic syndrome on manifestations of keratoconus. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed patient files and data generated by Scheimpflug imaging of 670 eyes of 434 keratoconus patients. Patients were divided into a study group consisting of patients suffering from atopic syndrome (110 eyes of 75 patients), namely allergic asthma, atopic dermatitis, and/or allergic rhinitis, and a control group of patients without known atopic syndrome (560 eyes of 359 patients). RESULTS: We found a significant difference with the mean age being 36.1 ± 11.7 for the control group, 32.8 ± 9.6 for the atopic group (P = 0.002) with 1 atopic trait, and 30.4 ± 7.5 for patients with 2 or more atopic traits (P = 0.002). No statistically significant differences were found in the mean corrected distance visual acuity, corneal pachymetry, minimum relative pachymetric progression (RPImin), mean refraction, keratoconus index, anterior chamber depth and volume, Kmax, and location of Kmax in relation to the corneal apex. However, we found a significantly higher corneal density for the anterior 120 μm of the cornea in the atopic group (control: 20.74 ± 4.68, atopic group: 21.92 ± 4.65 P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Keratoconus patients suffering from atopic syndrome were significantly younger but showed no topographical changes except in corneal densitometry compared with keratoconus patients without an atopic disease. This suggests atopic syndrome is a factor, which can trigger earlier manifestation of keratoconus.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of atopic syndrome on manifestations of keratoconus. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed patient files and data generated by Scheimpflug imaging of 670 eyes of 434 keratoconuspatients. Patients were divided into a study group consisting of patients suffering from atopic syndrome (110 eyes of 75 patients), namely allergic asthma, atopic dermatitis, and/or allergic rhinitis, and a control group of patients without known atopic syndrome (560 eyes of 359 patients). RESULTS: We found a significant difference with the mean age being 36.1 ± 11.7 for the control group, 32.8 ± 9.6 for the atopic group (P = 0.002) with 1 atopic trait, and 30.4 ± 7.5 for patients with 2 or more atopic traits (P = 0.002). No statistically significant differences were found in the mean corrected distance visual acuity, corneal pachymetry, minimum relative pachymetric progression (RPImin), mean refraction, keratoconus index, anterior chamber depth and volume, Kmax, and location of Kmax in relation to the corneal apex. However, we found a significantly higher corneal density for the anterior 120 μm of the cornea in the atopic group (control: 20.74 ± 4.68, atopic group: 21.92 ± 4.65 P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS:Keratoconuspatients suffering from atopic syndrome were significantly younger but showed no topographical changes except in corneal densitometry compared with keratoconuspatients without an atopic disease. This suggests atopic syndrome is a factor, which can trigger earlier manifestation of keratoconus.
Authors: Tomás Loureiro; Sandra Rodrigues-Barros; Ana Rita Carreira; Filipe Gouveia-Moraes; Pedro Carreira; Ana Vide Escada; Paul Campos; Inês Machado; Nuno Campos; Timothy J Archer; Dan Z Reinstein; Renato Ambrósio Journal: Clin Ophthalmol Date: 2022-08-06