Keratoconus patients at Jordan University Hospital: a descriptive study

PURPOSE: To study a sample of keratoconus patients, who were referred to Jordan University Hospital for possible penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), and provide basic epidemiological analysis. METHOD: A descriptive study; we reviewed the medical records of 308 keratoconus patients referred for possible PKP. The following parameters were collected and analyzed: sex predilection, age at presentation, best corrected visual acuity, severity, bilaterality of the disease, and its association with vernal catarrh. RESULTS: Males constituted 61.6% while females constituted 38.4% of the study group. The mean age at presentation for males and females was 19.1 and 19.9 years, respectively. The best corrected visual acuity on evaluation was ≤6/60 in 60.4% of males’ eyes and 57.9% of females’ eyes; >6/60 and <6/12 in 30% of males’ eyes and 28.5% of females’ eyes; and ≥6/12 in 9.6% of males’ eyes and 13.6% of females’ eyes. Regarding the severity, 72.3% of males’ eyes and 71.8% of females’ eyes had severe keratoconus; 17.3% of males’ and 28.2% of females’ eyes had moderate keratoconus; and 10.4% of males’ eyes had mild keratoconus, which was not recorded in females. 90.5% of male patients and 93.2% of female patients had bilateral disease and vernal catarrh was recorded in 33.7% of males and 35.6% of females. CONCLUSION: Keratoconus was found to be more prevalent in Jordanian males referred for PKP than females, keeping in mind that this doesn’t reflect the real sex predilection in the general population. Males also presented at a younger age. We didn’t find any association between gender and bilaterality, nor association with vernal catarrh.