Keratoglobus

Keratoglobus
Specialty	Ophthalmology

Keratoglobus (from Greek: kerato- horn, cornea; and Latin: globus round) is a degenerative non-inflammatory disorder of the eye in which structural changes within the cornea cause it to become extremely thin and change to a more globular shape than its normal gradual curve. It causes corneal thinning, primarily at the margins, resulting in a spherical, slightly enlarged eye.

It is sometimes equated with "megalocornea". ^[1]

Pathophysiology

Keratoglobus is a little-understood disease with an uncertain cause, and its progression following diagnosis is unpredictable. If afflicting both eyes, the deterioration in vision can affect the patient's ability to drive a car or read normal print. It does not however lead to blindness.^{[ citation needed ]}

Treatment

Treatment includes the use of protective eye glasses. ^[2] A number of surgical options are also available. ^[2]

Further progression of the disease usually leads to a need for corneal transplantation because of extreme thinning of the cornea. Primarily, large size penetrating keratoplasty has been advocated. Recent additions of techniques specifically for keratoglobus include the "tuck procedure", ^[3] whereby a 12 mm corneo-scleral donor graft is taken and trimmed at its outer edges. A host pocket is formed at the limbal margin and the donor tissue is "tucked" into the host pocket. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Prognosis

Keratoglobus prognosis continues to be variable, but it can be successfully managed with a variety of clinical and surgical techniques. The patient is at risk for globe perforation because the thinned out cornea is extremely weak.^{[ citation needed ]}

Epidemiology

It is a much rarer condition than keratoconus, which is the most common dystrophy of the cornea. ^[4] Similar to keratoconus it is typically diagnosed in the patient's adolescent years and attains its most severe state in the twenties and thirties.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "keratoglobus" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
2. Wallang, BS; Das, S (September 2013). "Keratoglobus". Eye. 27 (9). London: 1004–1212. doi:10.1038/eye.2013.130. PMC   3772364 . PMID   23807384.
3. Kaushal S, Jhanji V, Sharma N, Tandon R, Titiyal JS, Vajpayee RB (February 2008). ""Tuck In" Lamellar Keratoplasty (TILK) for corneal ectasias involving corneal periphery" . Br J Ophthalmol. 92 (2): 286–290. doi:10.1136/bjo.2007.124628. PMID   18227208. S2CID   36981311.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
4. "Review of Optometry". Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2006-10-17.