Visual and Topographic Outcomes of Corneal Allogenic Ring Segments in Keratoconus

My Postgraduate Thesis is on Visual and Topographic Outcomes of corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segments in Keratoconus.

Keratoconus is a slowly progressive, non inflammatory ectatic corneal disease characterized by changes in corneal collagen structure and organization. Prevalence of keratoconus (KC) is estimated at 2300/100,000 in Central India (0.0003–2.3%) highlighting the fact that keratoconus is much more prevalent than what is assumed.

Corneal collagen cross‐linking is effective in stabilizing the progression of the disease but does not have a major impact on the improvement of visual acuity. Common methods of vision correction for keratoconus range from spectacles and rigid gas‐permeable contact lenses to other specialized lenses such as piggyback, Rose‐K, or Boston scleral lenses.

Intrastromal corneal ring segments (ICRS) are small curvilinear segments which are made of PMMA, synthetic material that are placed deep in the corneal stroma to alter the corneal curvature and regularization of the corneal surface. However, being made of synthetic material, upto 30% rate of complications ranging from innocuous to sight threatening are reported.

Corneal Allogenic Intrastromal Ring Segments is a new technique that utilizes a principle similar to synthetic segments but with the use of allogenic segments created from donor corneal buttons. This technique aims at decreasing the complications associated with the use of synthetic material within the patient’s corneal stroma and improving the visual outcomes.