Corneal tomographic changes after corneal Collagen cross linking in Pediatric keratoconus

Professor of ophthalmology

Abstract

Pediatric keratoconus is a disease entity that is underdiagnosed. Even though there are extensive studies focusing on adult keratoconus, pediatric keratoconus is often overlooked.(1)This is probably due to the acceptable visual function in its early stages, which does not influence daily life activities, and therefore the effects of the condition are generally not evident to the patient nor the caregivers like parents or teachers.(2)Nevertheless, it eventually results in considerable visual impairment that negatively impacts the quality of life by affecting social and educational development.This disease tends to be more aggressive in the children than in adults due to the dynamic environment in the young cornea as well as the often presence of co-existing atopy and vernal keratoconjunctivits. Both pediatric and adult keratoconus are managed using the same regimen based on the disease stage