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Purpose: To define the optical coherence tomography (OCT) corneal changes predisposing to acute corneal hydrops among patients with advanced keratoconus., Design: Retrospective cohort study., Participants: A total of 191 advanced keratoconic eyes from 191 patients with advanced keratoconus cases were studied., Methods: Data collected from patients with advanced keratoconus cases were studied during a minimum period of 24 months of follow-up. High-resolution Fourier-domain corneal OCT (5 μm of axial resolution) and corneal topography were performed every 4 months during the follow-up. Several anatomic features at the keratoconus cone were analyzed with OCT, including epithelial and stromal thicknesses, the aspect of Bowman's layer, the presence of Vogt's striae, and stromal opacities. A comparative analysis between anatomic corneal features in eyes that developed corneal hydrops and those that did not develop this complication during the follow-up was performed., Main Outcome Measures: Evaluation of anatomic corneal changes at risk of developing a corneal hydrops on the basis of OCT findings., Results: Eleven cases of corneal hydrops (5.8%) occurred in our series during a mean follow-up of 30 months (24-36 months). All of these patients were male and younger (23.7±5.9 years) than patients with no acute keratoconus (32.7±11.3 years). Increased epithelial thickening with stromal thinning at the conus and the presence of anterior hyperreflectives at the Bowman's layer level were significantly associated with corneal hydrops, whereas the presence of corneal scarring was a preventive factor. At the healing stage, a pan-stromal scar occurs, with a significant stromal thickening and cornea flattening., Conclusions: Increased epithelial thickening, stromal thinning at the keratoconus cone, anterior hyperreflectives at the Bowman's layer level, and the absence of stromal scarring are associated with a high risk of developing corneal hydrops. These aspects should be taken into account by the clinician in the evaluation of keratoconus eyes and in the planning of corneal keratoplasty., (Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study corneal morphologic changes in a large keratoconic population and to establish a structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) classification., Design: Cross-sectional, observational study., Participants: A total of 218 keratoconic eyes from 218 patients and 34 eyes from 34 normal subjects., Methods: A Fourier-domain OCT system with 5-μm axial resolution was used. For each patient, 3 high-resolution scans were made across the keratoconus cone. All scans were analyzed by keratoconus specialists who were not given access to patients' clinical and topographic data, and who established an OCT classification. The reproducibility of the classification and its correlation with clinical and paraclinical characteristics of patients with keratoconus were evaluated. The OCT examinations were performed every 4 months to follow up structural corneal changes., Main Outcome Measures: Evaluation of the structural corneal changes occurring in keratoconus cases with various stages of severity based on OCT findings., Results: Fourier-domain OCT classification containing 5 distinct keratoconus stages is proposed. Stage 1 demonstrates thinning of apparently normal epithelial and stromal layers at the conus. Stage 2 demonstrates hyperreflective anomalies occurring at the Bowman's layer level with epithelial thickening at the conus. Stage 3 demonstrates posterior displacement of the hyperreflective structures occurring at the Bowman's layer level with increased epithelial thickening and stromal thinning. Stage 4 demonstrates pan-stromal scar. Stage 5 demonstrates hydrops; 5a, acute onset: Descemet's membrane rupture and dilaceration of collagen lamellae with large fluid-filled intrastromal cysts; 5b, healing stage: pan-stromal scarring with a remaining aspect of Descemet's membrane rupture. The reproducibility of the classification was very high between the corneal specialist observers. Clinical and paraclinical characteristics of keratoconus, including visual acuity, corneal epithelium and stromal thickness changes, corneal topography, biomechanical corneal characteristics, and microstructural changes observed on confocal microscopy, were concordant with our OCT grading., Conclusions: Optical coherence tomography provides an accurate assessment of structural changes occurring in keratoconus eyes. These changes were correlated with clinical and paraclinical characteristics of patients. The established classification not only allows structural follow-up of patients with keratoconus but also provides insight into the pathogenesis of keratoconus and treatment strategies for future research., (Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To define a new classification method for the diagnosis of keratoconus based on corneal measurements provided by a Scheimpflug camera combined with Placido corneal topography (Sirius, CSO, Florence, Italy)., Design: Retrospective case series., Participants: We analyzed the examinations of 877 eyes with keratoconus, 426 eyes with subclinical keratoconus, 940 eyes with a history of corneal surgery (defined as abnormal), and 1259 healthy control eyes., Methods: For each group, eyes were divided into a training and a validation set. A support vector machine (SVM) was used to analyze the corneal measurements and classify the eyes into the 4 groups of participants. The classifier was trained to consider the indices obtained from both the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces or only from the anterior corneal surface., Main Outcome Measures: Symmetry index of front and back corneal curvature, best fit radius of the front corneal surface, Baiocchi Calossi Versaci front index (BCV(f)) and BCV back index (BCV(b)), root mean square of front and back corneal surface higher order aberrations, and thinnest corneal point were analyzed. The diagnostic performance of the classifier was evaluated., Results: The accuracy of the classifier was excellent both with and without the data generated from the posterior corneal surface and corneal thickness because the number of true predictions was greater than 95% and 93%, respectively, in all classes. Precision improved most when posterior corneal surface data were included, especially in cases of subclinical keratoconus. Using the data from both anterior and posterior corneal surfaces and pachymetry allowed the SVM to increase its sensitivity from 89.3% to 96.0% in abnormal eyes, 92.8% to 95.0% in eyes with keratoconus, 75.2% to 92.0% in eyes with subclinical keratoconus, and 93.1% to 97.2% in normal eyes., Conclusions: The classification algorithm showed high accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity in discriminating among abnormal eyes, eyes with keratoconus or subclinical keratoconus, and normal eyes. Including the posterior corneal surface and thickness parameters markedly improved the sensitivity in the diagnosis of subclinical keratoconus. Classification may be particularly useful in excluding eyes with early signs of corneal ectasia when screening patients for excimer laser surgery., (Copyright © 2012 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate corneal changes in posterior keratoconus., Design: A retrospective review., Results: Distinct topographic patterns were identified. Generalized posterior keratoconus showed uniform corneal steepening. Localized central and paracentral posterior keratoconus showed corneal steepening, and localized peripheral posterior keratoconus showed corneal flattening overlying the area of corneal change. The changes in central and paracentral posterior keratoconus appear to progress with an increase in patient age. Unilateral disease may have more amblyogenic potential., Conclusions: Posterior keratoconus manifests significant corneal surface alterations. The distinct topographic patterns seen probably warrant a further classification of localized posterior keratoconus into central-paracentral and peripheral varieties.

In advanced keratoconus, there are two cone types. The more common round or nipple shaped cone is limited in diameter but may reach any degree of conicity. The cone center lies mostly in the lower nasal quadrant. The oval or sagging cone, is often larger and lies more commonly in the inferotemporal quadrant close to the periphery. The oval cone is usually associated with more episodes of corneal hydrops, scarring and difficulty in fitting contact lenses. Histopathologic review of 23 cases (10 round, 13 oval), revealed that the oval group had more breaks in Bowman's membrane, 10.1 versus 5.0, (P smaller than 0.01), and a tendency toward greater pannus formation with more ruptures in Descemet's membrane. We hope this clinicopathologic correlation may allow a more logical approach to patient care based on recognizing two different cone types in advanced keratoconus.