The cornea of your eye is its clear outer surface, both protecting the eye as well as bending most of the light that enters the eye. The shape of the cornea is crucial to clear, sharp vision.
Keratoconus is a progressive eye condition in which the cornea thins and deforms into a conical, bulged shape. It often starts in adolescence or early adulthood, but the symptoms can be subtle.
There’s a genetic factor to keratoconus, meaning you’re more likely to develop the condition if one of your parents had it, and your children have a greater risk if you’ve dealt with it. Since the progression of keratoconus can be stopped with medical treatment, early diagnosis means better lifetime eyesight.
At Advanced Lasik in Midtown East, New York City, and Duarte and Long Beach, California, ophthalmologist Dr. Randa Garrana provides corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL), a simple procedure that stops keratoconus progression by strengthening corneal tissue.
While keratoconus is not exclusively caused by individual genes, there can be a genetic influence that, combined with environmental factors, makes it more likely that some people will inherit the condition.
In fact, most keratoconus patients have no known genetic connection to the disorder. However, as many as one in four of people with keratoconus have a family history of the condition.
Why is this important? In its early stages, symptoms of keratoconus may not be noticeable — even as the physical condition of the eyes are irreversibly deteriorating. If you’re aware of a hereditary risk factor for the disease, you can plan for regular screenings to guard against a decline in vision.
If you’re aware of a family history of this corneal condition, we can take steps to protect you or your children. Vision screening for keratoconus includes having regular, routine eye exams that measure corneal topography or tomography (2D or 3D mapping, respectively).
These tests can detect small changes to the cornea before the patient’s vision suffers any substantial changes. Early diagnosis means we can act to stabilize the cornea before keratoconus becomes a serious issue.
We recommend that children and teens with a parent or sibling suffering from keratoconus be tested regularly for signs of ocular change. Young adults who find their corrective lens prescriptions changing rapidly may also be advised to screen for keratoconus.
Treatments for keratoconus include specialized contact lenses as well as CXL. Only advanced cases of the condition require aggressive treatment, including corneal transplant in extreme situations.
Do you have genetic risk factors for keratoconus? Our team at Advanced Lasik is here to help. Call or click online to schedule a visit at your nearest location: We have one East Coast office in Midtown East, New York City, and two West Coast offices in Duarte and Long Beach, California.
