A UK team has developed a predictive tool to help young keratoconus patients make informed decisions about undergoing corneal crosslinking (CXL) to halt disease progression.
Led by Dr Daniel Gore, researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology recruited 5,025 early keratoconic patients and investigated keratometry or CXL as end points for progression and to generate a prognostic model. Writing in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the team said the most significant predictor of progression risk was age at presentation, while single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with keratoconus did not contribute to progression risk. The resulting model uses patients’ data to produce a graph for each eye, extrapolating progression. “It should support clinicians to make treatment decisions with greater confidence earlier in the disease process and reduce preventable vision loss,” said co-author Olivia Li.
