Keratoconus

Keratoconus (KC) is an often congenital, bilateral and hereditary disorder of the eye in which the normally round cornea thins and begins to bulge into a cone-like shape. This cone shape deflects light as it enters the eye on its way to the light-sensitive retina, causing distorted vision. Keratokonus can also be caused by previous eye interventions such as laser treatments of the cornea (Lasik) or by extreme eye rubbing in patients with allergies.

Symptoms

The increasing protrusion (conus) and thus the central thinning of the cornea, lead to a reduction of the visual acuity. Those affected often notice increased glare sensitivity, halos (rings of light around the light source), poor night vision, eye redness or swelling. In addition, visual aids (glasses / contact lenses) have to be readjusted at ever shorter intervals due to an increasing astigmatism of the cornea and are unable to provide full visual acuity.

Progressive forms

At the onset of the disease, keratoconus usually produces no symptoms and is indistinguishable from a normal corneal curvature corrected by a spectacle lens for the patient. Therefore, these diseases of the cornea are usually discovered randomly during a normal ophthalmological examination. When this happens, the disease must be regularly checked by a doctor, and monitored using the cornea topography (Pentacam).

Progressive Form: This is aggressive and can produce symptoms over time. With the progression of the disease, the correction of visual acuity by means of spectacle lenses and contact lenses becomes more and more difficult, because the bulging of the cornea is irregular.

If the protrusion of the cornea increases further, then the time comes when visual aids can no longer be worn because they do not improve vision. In addition, the cornea threatens to break through the permanent central thinning and when this happens, the cone, the thinnest point with the largest protrusion, shifts within the cornea, breaks, produces a scar and irreversibly reduces the visual acuity.

The only treatment option so far was to remove the diseased cornea and replace it with a donor cornea (corneal transplantation / keratoplasty). However, such an operation is organ transplantation with the associated risks and complications and adequate vision is often not achieved.

Corneal Crosslinking

Crosslinking is a method of mechanical stabilization of corneal tissues and is achieved by a combination of UV irradiation with administration of riboflavin eye drops (vitamin B2). The intensity of the UV radiation is chosen so that the underlying eye structures are not affected. Both the eye lens, as well as the retina thus takes no harm in the Crosslinking therapy.