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Review
. 2020 Dec;68(12):3077-3081.
doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1508_20.

Pregnancy-induced keractesia - A case series with a review of the literature

Affiliations
Review

Pregnancy-induced keractesia - A case series with a review of the literature

Mukesh Taneja et al. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

We report a case series of patients who developed post-laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) ectasia or had a progression of keractesia during pregnancy. We reviewed the medical records of 12 patients (20 eyes) who had reported deterioration of vision during their pregnancy and were diagnosed with keractesia. All 12 patients had experienced symptoms of deterioration of vision between 2 months to 1 year of onset of their pregnancies. A total of 17 eyes of 10 patients had developed post-refractive surgery keractesia. Sixteen of these had undergone LASIK and one had undergone femtosecond lenticule extraction (FLEX). Three eyes of two patients had an exacerbation of keratoconus during pregnancy while one patient had associated hypothyroidism. The results indicate that the hormonal changes that take place in pregnant women can affect the biomechanical stability of the cornea and may trigger the onset of keractesia.

Keywords: Keractesia; keratoconus progression; post-LASIK ectasia; pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pre-LASIK Orbscans of Patient No. 1
Figure 2
Figure 2
Oculyzer scans of Patient No. 1 after developing post LASIK ectasia in the left eye. (a) 4 maps scan of the right eye (No obvious ectasia) (b) 4 maps scans of the left eye with possible ectasia. (c) 4 maps scan of the right eye on follow-up with no ectasia. (d) 4 maps scan of the left eye on follow-up with progressed ectasia
Figure 3
Figure 3
Oculyzer scans of Patient No. 2 with post-LASIK ectasia in both eyes
Figure 4
Figure 4
Oculyzer scans of Patient No. 3 with Forme Fruste Keratoconus in the right eye and Keratoconus in the left eye

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