Purpose:
To determine the prevalence of keratoconus among high school students in Wellington, New Zealand.
Method:
The Wellington Keratoconus Study was a population-based prospective cross-sectional study of 2 cohorts in Wellington: cohort 1 (year 9 students, mean age 13.9 years) and cohort 2 (year 11 students, mean age 15.5 years).
Results:
A total of 1916 students with a mean age of 14.6 years participated from 20 schools in the region. Keratoconus was found in 1:191 (0.52%) participants overall and in 1:45 (2.25%) Maori participants. Pentacam mean Kmax of 48.7 diopters (D) (cohort 1, 45.5 D; cohort 2, 49.9 D), thinnest pachymetry of 494.05 μm (cohort 1, 479.0 μm; cohort 2, 499.5 μm), posterior elevation at the thinnest point of 23.4 (cohort 1, 15.2; cohort 2, 26.6), Belin/Ambrosio enhanced ectasia display overall D value of 4.30 (cohort 1, 3.2; cohort 2, 4.7) were noted in participants with keratoconus. In those with keratoconus, 8 of 10 had visual impairment of 0.2 Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (LogMAR) or worse in the better eye; 7 of 10 did not use visual aids; 7 of 10 had atopy; and 6 of 10 were from a low school decile. In those without keratoconus, 43.8% had atopy.
Conclusions:
Keratoconus may affect up to 1 in 191 New Zealand adolescents and 1 in 45 Maori adolescents. Keratoconus appeared to be associated with Maori ethnicity, atopy, lower school decile, visual impairment, and the underutilization of visual aids. Nationwide screening programs may have a role in reducing the burden of disease associated with keratoconus.
Both glued and sutured conjunctival autografting procedures are safe and effective methods for pterygium surgery. The glued autograft recurrence rate at 12 months was similar to that of sutured grafts. Conjunctival autograft with fibrin glue in pterygium surgery decreased surgical time and resulted in less postoperative pain in the first 48 hours but had a higher complication rate.
Spectral-domain AS-OCT had closer agreement in between-observer and between-instrument measurements than time-domain AS-OCT and provided more consistent measurements of post-LASIK flap thickness.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.