Inferior steepening is associated with thinning of the inferotemporal cornea.

PURPOSE: Videokeratography has enabled detection of inferior steepening patterns in patients thereby designated as keratoconus suspects. Since no information about the corneal thickness of these eyes is available, we studied several patients with such patterns, and compared the corneal thickness of their eyes with that of normals.

METHODS

Three groups of patients who had undergone videokeratography were studied with ultrasonic pachymetry centrally and in four quadrants at the 3-mm clear zone: 44 eyes with true keratoconus, 23 eyes of individuals with inferior steepening of the cornea who were family members of patients with keratoconus; and 44 normal eyes never fitted with contact lenses. The corneal thickness of the eyes in the first two groups was then compared with that in the third using ANOVA and Student's t test.

RESULTS

Corneal thickness in the normal eyes and in those with inferior steepening was similar in all except the inferotemporal quadrant. In this quadrant, the corneas of the eyes with inferior steepening were thinner than those of the normal eyes: 544 +/- 32 microns vs 581 +/- 30 microns (p < .05)

CONCLUSION

Eyes with inferior steepening on videokeratography have thinner inferotemporal corneas than normal eyes.