Virtual keratoconus monitoring clinic in a tertiary university hospital in the United Kingdom

PURPOSE: To describe a new pathway for virtual keratoconus (KC) monitoring in the corneal department of a tertiary referral center in the UK during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: A virtual outpatient clinic to monitor KC patients (KC PHOTO clinic) was created. All patients from the KC database in our department were included. At each hospital visit, patients’ visual acuity and tomography (Pentacam; Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) were collected by a health-care assistant and an ophthalmic technician, respectively. The results were virtually reviewed by a corneal optometrist to identify stability or progression of KC and discussed with a consultant if needed. Those with progression were contacted by telephone and listed for corneal crosslinking (CXL). RESULTS: From July 2020 until May 2021, 802 patients were invited to attend the virtual KC outpatient clinic. Of them, 536 patients (66.8%) attended and 266 (33.2%) did not attend. After corneal tomography analysis, 351 (65.5%) were stable, 121 (22.6%) showed no definite evidence of progression, and 64 (11.9%) showed progression. Forty-one (64%) patients with progressive KC were listed for CXL and the remaining 23 patients deferred treatment after the pandemic. By converting a face-to-face clinic to a virtual clinic, we were able to increase our capacity by nearly 500 appointments per year. CONCLUSION: In pandemic times, hospitals have developed novel methods of delivering safe patient care. KC PHOTO is a safe, effective, and innovative method of monitoring KC patients and diagnosing progression. In addition, virtual clinics can increase the clinic capacity tremendously and reduce the need of face-to-face appointments, which is beneficial in pandemic conditions.