Corneal topographic analysis of patients with Mooren ulcer using 3-dimensional anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE: To investigate the corneal topography and visual function of patients with Mooren ulcer using 3-dimensional anterior segment optical coherence tomography (3-D AS-OCT).

METHODS

Fourteen eyes of 9 patients with Mooren ulcer were studied. Pachymetric and axial power maps were obtained by 3-D AS-OCT. The axial power maps were classified into 3 patterns by visual inspection. The distribution of the corneal dioptric power was analyzed by Fourier harmonic expansion. The magnitudes of the spherical component, asymmetry, regular astigmatism, higher-order irregularity, and radial distance from the corneal vertex to the thinnest point of the lesion were determined.

RESULTS

The axial power maps of 9 eyes were classified into arcuate patterns, 4 into crab-claw patterns, and 1 eye into an intermediate pattern. The radial distance from the corneal vertex to the thinnest point of the lesion was significantly shorter in the crab-claw pattern group than in the arcuate pattern group (P = 0.007). The magnitudes of asymmetry, regular astigmatism, and higher-order irregularity of the crab-claw pattern group were significantly greater than those of the arcuate pattern group (P = 0.017, P = 0.011, and P = 0.030, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Three-dimensional AS-OCT is able to evaluate the corneal topography of opacified peripheral lesions in eyes with Mooren ulcer, and the results showed that irregular astigmatism is higher when the lesion is closer to the center of the cornea.