Quantitative evaluation of regular and irregular corneal astigmatism in patients having overnight orthokeratology.
OBJECTIVE
To quantitatively assess changes in regular and irregular corneal astigmatism in patients having overnight orthokeratology.


METHODS
Matsumoto Eye Clinic, Ibaraki, Japan.


METHODS
A prospective study was conducted of 64 eyes of 39 patients having overnight orthokeratology for myopia. Inclusion criteria were an uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) of 20/20 or better after treatment and a minimum follow-up of 3 months. Using Fourier series harmonic analysis, videokeratography data were decomposed into spherical component, regular astigmatism, asymmetry (tilt or decentration), and higher-order irregularity.


RESULTS
Orthokeratology significantly reduced the manifest refraction from -2.60 diopters (D) +/- 1.13 (SD) to -0.17 +/- 0.31 D (P<.0001, paired t test) and improved the UCVA from 0.82 +/- 0.30 to -0.11 +/- 0.06 logMAR (P<.0001). Regular astigmatism increased significantly from 0.53 +/- 0.23 D preoperatively to 0.63 +/- 0.40 D postoperatively (P =.0206). The asymmetry component increased significantly from 0.35 +/- 0.22 D to 0.64 +/- 0.40 D (P<.0001). Higher-order irregularity did not change significantly: 0.14 +/- 0.11 D before treatment and 0.17 +/- 0.20 D after treatment (P =.2166). The amount of myopic correction correlated significantly with the increase in the asymmetry component (Pearson correlation coefficient, R = 0.40, P =.0009) but not with the increase in regular astigmatism (R = 0.24, P =.055).


CONCLUSIONS
Irregular corneal astigmatism significantly increased, even in clinically successful orthokeratology cases. The effect of the changes on visual function should be studied further.
Hiraoka
Takahiro
T
Matsumoto Eye Clinic, and Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan. thiraoka@md.tsukuba.ac.jp
Furuya
Airi
A
Matsumoto
Yujiro
Y
Okamoto
Fumiki
F
Sakata
Norishige
N
Hiratsuka
Kentaro
K
Kakita
Tetsuhiko
T
Oshika
Tetsuro
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001251:Astigmatism / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D003261:Contact Lenses / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology*; D019781:Corneal Topography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014792:Visual Acuity