الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 134 |  |  |
| | | from | 134 | | |
Abstract
”Keratoconus is an ectatic corneal disorder characterized by corneal protrusion, irregular astigmatism, and decreased visual acuity caused by progressive corneal thinning. Keratoconus leads to biomechanical changes in the cornea, and the definite cause is not yet known. Corneal epithelial thickness is gaining popularity as a screening tool for corneal ectatic diseases. Its thickness and distribution modifications were described for some ocular disorders in adults, particularly keratoconus. Optical coherence tomography measures the epithelial and full corneal thickness and provides reliable thickness maps The Pentacam rotating Scheimpflug camera enables evaluation of the whole anterior segment, from the anterior corneal surface to the lens’ posterior surface. The aim of this study was to measure the corneal epithelial thickness profile using optical coherence tomography in cases of keratoconus. The present study was observational analytic case control study carried out at Mansoura Ophthalmic center, Mansoura University to measure corneal epithelial thickness using optical coherence tomography. After obtaining an informed consent from all the included cases and approval by the institutional review board, the included cases were subjected to the following; complete history taking and full ophthalmological examination (including measurement of visual acuity, refraction, Slit lamp biomicroscopy and fundus examination). Pentacam (Tomey TMS-5 Japan) corneal topography was done to all included eyes to diagnose and grade keratoconus . Corneal epithelial thickness was measured to all included diagnosed keratoconic eyes using OCT (DRI-OCT Triton Plus, Topcon, and Tokyo, Japan) . Then the included cases were divided into two groups; group I (Keratoconus) with 30 eyes and group II (normal cornea with number of 30 eyes). The results of this study showed that ● The mean age of the keratoconus group was 22.71 years while 27.29 years among the control group. >●In the keratoconus group, 57% were females and 43% males while in the control group there were 66.7% females and 33.3% males. >●The mean thinnest pachymetry as measured by pentacam was statistically significantly lower in the keratoconus group as compared to the control group.● The mean epithelial thickness as measured by OCT was statistically significantly lower in the keratoconus group as compared to the control group.●According to the stage of keratoconus, there were 13 % with stage zero, 20% stage I, 20% Stage II and 47% stage III.●There was a statistically significant positive correlation between Pentacam (thinnest pachymetry) and OCT (epithelial thickness).●The epithelial thickness of the cornea as measured by OCT showed a statistically significant decrease with increasing the stage of keratoconus.●The area under Receiver Operating characteristics (ROC) curve for pentacam (thinnest pachymetry) in differentiating group 1 was excellent (AUC= 0.980, 95% CI=0.917-1.0) with the best detected cut off point was 508.●The area under ROC curve for OCT in differentiating group 1 was excellent (AUC= 0.867, 95% CI=0.678-1.0) with the best detected cut off point was 48.”