Background: Preoperative screening and diagnosis of Keratoconus (KC) is particularly crucial for patients seeking vision correction by refractive surgery because postoperative corneal ectasia is one of the main complications resulting from operating an eye with undetected KC. The main origin of KC is still unidentified. One of the major risk factors that may predispose to this disease is family history and this may be explained by the presence of up to 20 percent of people with keratoconus having a favorable family history.
Objectives: to assess the prevalence of keratoconus among patients seeking vision correction by LASIK.
Patients and Methods: This research is a cross-sectional study. The study included adult participants who received keratoconus screening as part of normal preoperative testing before receiving laser vision correction (LVC). Keratoconus was diagnosed with the help of an analysis of Pentacam-derived parameters.
Results: About 20 patients out of 188 candidates presenting for LASIK were incidentally discovered as clinical or subclinical keratoconus cases and were excluded from performing the LASIK procedure. The frequency distribution of keratoconus in patients seeking vision correction by LASIK was 11.9 %. The most important risk factor predisposing to KC was family history.
Conclusion: Patients seeking LVC had a high prevalence of keratoconus. An essential method for determining the prevalence of keratoconus in the Egyptian community is the screening of LVC candidates for keratoconus.