title: Photorefractive keratectomy in keratoconus suspects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the refractive outcome after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in keratoconus-suspect patients with that in patients with normal corneal topography.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gimbel Eye Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a retrospective study, 3 patients (5 eyes) with unusually shaped corneal topography before surgery were selected as keratoconus suspects. Corneal topography (inferior-superior [I-S] value, central corneal power, and central power difference between both eyes), preoperative and 1 year postoperative refraction, and visual acuity in the keratoconus suspects were compared with those in a control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean preoperative I-S value was 1.79 diopters (D) in the keratoconus-suspect eyes and 0.35 D in the control group eyes (P = .0001). The I-S value of individual corneas in the keratoconus suspects was more than 2 standard deviations above the mean in the control group except in 1 eye in which the steepened area was located in the central cornea. The central power difference between the eyes of this patient was 3.60 D, which was significantly higher than that in the control group. The refractive outcomes in the keratoconus suspects were comparable to those in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the refractive outcomes after PRK in the keratoconus suspects and controls were comparable. However, further investigation with a larger sample and longer follow-up is needed.
authors.affiliation: Gimbel Eye Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: H V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Gimbel
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Kaye
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D019781:Corneal Topography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007640:Keratoconus / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity