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Corneal densitometry in bilateral keratoconus patients with unilateral corneal Vogt’s striae: a contralateral eye study

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate corneal densitometry and correlations with corneal morphological parameters in patients with bilateral keratoconus (KC) with unilateral Vogt’s striae.

Methods

This prospective contralateral study enrolled 112 patients (224 eyes) with evident KC characteristics (corneal topography with asymmetric bow-tie pattern, inferior steepening), and at least one KC sign (conical protrusion of the cornea at the apex, corneal stromal thinning, Fleischer ring, Vogt’s striae) on slit-lamp examination. Corneal densitometry and morphological parameters were measured using Pentacam HR.

Results

The mean age was 23.93 ± 6.81 years. Fifty-two (23.22%), 111 (49.55%), and 61 (27.23%) eyes were in mild, moderate, and severe groups, respectively. Corneal densitometry values of the anterior 0–2 mm and 2–6 mm, intermediate 0–2 mm and 2–6 mm, posterior 2–6 mm, and total cornea 2–6 mm were significantly higher in eyes with Vogt’s striae (P < 0.05), whereas those of the anterior 6–10 mm, posterior 0–2 mm, and total cornea 6–10 mm were significantly lower in eyes with Vogt’s striae (P < 0.05). Anterior 0–2 mm and total cornea 2–6 mm corneal densitometry values were positively correlated with anterior K1 (A-K1), K2 (A-K2), Km (A-Km), Kmax (A-Kmax), anterior corneal elevation, and posterior corneal elevation (P < 0.05), and negatively correlated with central corneal thickness and thinnest corneal thickness in eyes with Vogt’s striae (P < 0.05). A-K2, A-Km, and A-Kmax were significantly correlated with the densitometry values of the anterior 0–2 mm and intermediate 0–2 mm in eyes without Vogt’s striae (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Vogt’s striae mainly occur on the anterior and intermediate layers during KC progression.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the technical support of Tianjin Eye Hospital and Eye Institute (the Tianjin Key Lab of Ophthalmology and Visual Science).

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81873684).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical College of Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Shengsheng Wei & Yan Wang

  2. Tianjin Eye Institute, Tianjin Key Lab of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tianjin Eye Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, No. 4 Gansu Road, He-ping District, Tianjin, 300020, China

    Yan Wang

  3. Shaanxi Eye Hospital, Xi’an People’s Hospital (Xi’an Fourth Hospital), Affiliated Guangren Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Shengsheng Wei, Jing Li, Yong Li, Yaohua Zhang, Yan Cai, Jing Du & Jianguo Liu

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Contributions

SW, JL, YW were involved in concept and design. SW, YC, JD contributed to data collection. SW, YL, JL were involved in analysis and interpretation. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SW, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Wang.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from at least one parent or legal guardian of each subject.

Ethical approval

This study protocol adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval from the institutional review board and Ethics Committee of Xi'an People's Hospital (Xi'an Fourth Hospital) (Ethical Approval Number: 20180157).

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Wei, S., Li, J., Li, Y. et al. Corneal densitometry in bilateral keratoconus patients with unilateral corneal Vogt’s striae: a contralateral eye study. Int Ophthalmol 43, 885–897 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02491-3

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