<p>Prevalence of Subclinical Keratoconus Among Pediatric Egyptian Population with Astigmatism</p>

Abstract

Purpose: To report the prevalence of subclinical keratoconus (KC), and KC suspects, in pediatric Egyptian population with astigmatic error ≥2 diopters (D), with the use of CSO Sirius tomographer. Methods: A cross-sectional study that included all the children aged 6-18 years with an astigmatic error of ≥2 D who attended the pediatric ophthalmology clinic for routine checkups during the period between March 2017 and December 2017 was done. All subjects underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination, and corneal imaging using CSO Sirius instrument, a pentacam with Scheimpflug technology. Results: There were 547 subjects enrolled in our study. Mean age was 11.34 ± 3.03 (range 6-18) years. There were 278 subjects (50.8%) between 6 and 12 years, and 269 subjects (49.2%) between 12 and 18 years. Males represented 48.4% and females represented 51.6% of patients. Among all the subjects, there were 26 (4.8%) KC patients, 24 (4.4%) KC suspects, and 497 (90.9%) were normal. Conclusion: Prevalence of subclinical KC among pediatric age group with astigmatism is relatively high, hence the importance of corneal tomography screening of children with astigmatic error ≥2 D.

Outcomes of Corneal Topography among Progressive Keratoconus Patients 12 months following Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking

“…The prevalence of corneal ectasia is relatively higher among Arabs and people of Eastern Mediterranean descent. 8 , 9 A population-based study conducted in Saudi Arabia revealed an incidence of 20 KC cases per 100,000. 10 Variations in KC epidemiology may be attributed to genetic, environmental, and age-related factors.…”

“… 10 Young people are also expected to have a higher prevalence of KC compared to other age groups. 9 , 11 In Egypt, Sidky et al reported that 50.8% of children affected with subclinical KC were between 6 and 12 years of age, and 49.2% were between 12 and 18 years. 9 A multicenter study conducted in 2020 in Riyadh estimated a 4.79% prevalence among the pediatric population aged 6–21 years.…”

Keratoconus in Africa: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The overall prevalence of keratoconus in Africa was pooled from eight studies [32][33][34][35][36]38,39,43 as these were the only investigations to report the prevalence of keratoconus. The range of prevalences was 0.4%-30.9%.…”

“…Only five studies 32,[34][35][36]39 reported the prevalence of keratoconus with gender. Two 32,33 found no significant association with gender, while two studies 35,39 observed significantly higher keratoconus prevalence in males. The overall prevalence among males and females in Africa was pooled from all five studies.…”

“…This division was chosen to allow inclusion of the maximum number of studies into the age-specific analysis. Five studies 32,33,35,36,39 were in either or both of the two age categories, and as such were included in the meta-analysis. One 32 reported no significant association between age and keratoconus prevalence while three studies [33][34][35] reported a significant association between prevalence and age.…”