The Moorfields Keralink trial – be involved

Keratoconus is a disorder in which the paracentral and central cornea undergo progressive thinning and steepening, almost always initially presenting to optometrists. Even very early disease can be detected by corneal topography, a Placido-based imaging technique which demonstrates thinning, steepening and irregularity of corneal curvature. In its early stages, keratoconus causes worsening of vision on account of increasing myopia and irregular astigmatism. Spectacle correction provides good visual acuity in early disease only, until increasing irregular astigmatism requires correction with rigid contact lenses for best vision. Patients with more advanced keratoconus lose contact lens-corrected visual acuity on account of corneal opacification and eventually require corneal transplant surgery: in one large multicentre report, transplantation was eventually necessary in at least one eye of 21% of patients.