KERATOCONUS

Keratoconus is a disease in which the cornea or window at the front of the eye becomes very irregular and bent steeply.

It results in vision which is difficult to improve with spectacles. Patients generally require “hard” contact lenses to help improve their focus. A number of patients with Keratoconus may eventually require a corneal transplant procedure to improve their vision.

A new treatment for keratoconus is corneal “cross-linking”. In this procedure riboflavin eye drops and ultraviolet light are used to “cross-link” the collagen in the cornea. This “fixes” the corneal in its current state, and in most cases, patients will not continue to deteriorate.

Some images and information provided courtesy of RANZCO and Mi-tec Medical Publishing. The complete RANZCO patient education pamphlet is available from your ophthalmologist.