title: Corneal topography of posterior keratoconus.
abstract: Posterior keratoconus is an unusual abnormality of the cornea generally classified as one of the anterior chamber cleavage anomalies. It is characterized clinically by the presence of a circumscribed or generalized corneal thinning with posterior depression of the cornea and is considered distinct from keratoconus. Although patients with posterior keratoconus may have visual complaints clearly related to their abnormal corneas, the surface topography of these corneas has not been studied in detail. Keratometry and photokeratoscopy provide an incomplete picture of the surface geometry of posterior keratoconus. We utilized computer assisted topographic analysis to study the cornea of a patient with posterior keratoconus. The Topographic Modeling System demonstrated that the patient's cornea showed a central steepened "cone" coincident with the area of circumscribed posterior keratoconus as well as paracentral flattening. This report documents the topographic abnormality in this rare disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of California at Davis, Sacramento 95816.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mannis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lightman
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Plotnik
mesh_terms: D000867:Anterior Chamber / Q000473:pathology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D003103:Coloboma / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007640:Keratoconus / Q000473:pathology*; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating; D007910:Lenses, Intraocular; D008875:Middle Aged; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000002:abnormalities; D014792:Visual Acuity