title: Assessment of the macula in keratoconus: an optical coherence tomography and multifocal electroretinography study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of our study was to assess the macular thickness and the electrophysiological changes in keratoconic patients without any systemic or ocular disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  64 eyes of 32 keratoconus patients as well as 60 eyes of 30 controls participated in the study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) assessment, color vision testing, fundus examination, intraocular pressure measurement, central foveal thickness (CFT) measurement by optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan, and multifocal-electroretinogram (mf-ERG) recording. CFT, retinal response density (RRD) and P1 latency were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups concerning CFT and P1 latency in mf-ERG. The RRD in mf-ERG differed significantly between keratoconus patients and controls. Of note, BCVA was positively associated with RRD in keratoconus patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In some cases of keratoconus, a macular dysfunction not visible ophthalmoscopically may coexist and the low visual acuity could be due not only to the corneal abnormality, but also to the photoreceptor dysfunction. As a result, the preoperative electrophysiological study of patients with keratoconus is crucial to avoid a needless corneal transplantation.
authors: 1st Department of Ophthalmology, University of Athens, GR-14578 Athens, Greece. moschosmarilita@yahoo.fr
authors: Marilita M
authors: MM
authors: Moschos
authors: Irini P
authors: IP
authors: Chatziralli
authors: Chryssanthi
authors: C
authors: Koutsandrea
authors: Georgia
authors: G
authors: Siasou
authors: Dimitrios
authors: D
authors: Droutsas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004596:Electroretinography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007640:Keratoconus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity