Better screening, communication should help limit corneal ectasia

Las Vegas
Opthamology Times

Refractive surgeons may be able to reduce the incidence of corneal ectasia through careful screening for probable and possible risk factors, the use of microkeratomes producing predictable flap thickness, and increased communication with their colleagues, said R. Doyle Stulting, MD, PhD, here at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Also needed, according to Dr. Stulting, are prospective trials for borderline cases and basic investigations of keratocyte function. A planned international registry may help facilitate communication and research, he said.

Ectasia, first reported by Theo Seiler, MD, PhD, in 1998, Dr. Stulting said, is defined as thinning and steepening in the central cornea that causes progressive myopia and astigmatism, leading to loss of uncorrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity.

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