title: Effects of vernal and allergic conjunctivitis on severity of keratoconus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the effects of two different types of allergic conjunctivitis on severity of keratoconus (KC).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 171 KC patients referred between June 2010 and June 2011. The KC patients were divided into 3 groups as KC (group A), KC with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) (group B) and KC with allergic conjunctivitis (AC) (group C). Main outcome measures were demographic and ocular clinical features including age at presentation, gender, spherical equivalent (SE), best spectacle corrected visual acuity (BCVA), mean keratometric measurement (Km), central corneal thickness (CCT), and intraocular pressure (IOP). Groups were compared in term of study variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age at presentation was significantly lower in group B (P<0.001). According to the median SE (P=0.003), BCVA (P=0.022), Km (P<0.001), CCT (P=0.015) and Amsler-Krumeich classification (P<0.001), KC was more severe in group B. There was no significant difference in terms of IOP and corrected IOP among the groups (P=0.44), however there were 4 patients who had increased corrected IOP developed after topical corticosteroid use in group B. The differences among the groups persisted even after controlling for age and gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings demonstrated a more severe KC in VKC patients despite their younger age which suggests evaluation of VKC patients as a separate group in keratoconus disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdullah Kursat
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Cingu
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cinar
authors.forename: Fatih Mehmet
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Turkcu
authors.forename: Alparslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Seyhmus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ari
authors.forename: Harun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.forename: Muhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Ihsan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Caca
keywords: allergic conjunctivitis; intraocular pressure; keratoconus; vernal keratoconjunctivitis