Regional biomechanics and its correlation with molecular signatures in keratoconus

Session Details

Session Title: Corneal Biomechanics

Session Date/Time: Sunday 15/09/2019 | 16:30-18:00

Paper Time: 16:30

Venue: Free Paper Forum: Podium 4

First Author: : G.Mahadevan INDIA

Co Author(s): :    R. Shetty   N. Dhami   A. Ghosh   A. Roy                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To determine biomechanical alterations associated with zonal tissue changes between ectatic and non-ectatic peripheral regions in keratoconus (KC)

Setting:

Narayana Nethralaya Super Specialty Eye Hospital , Bangalore

Methods:

Zonal corneal stiffness (CS) was derived from prototype next-gen Corvis. Differential molecular expression was estimated by qPCR for 50 KC(cone vs periphery) and 25 normal eyes(NE) undergoing crosslinking and PRK respectively.

Results:

KC cones had higher TNF-α, IL-6, MMP-9 (p<0.05) but reduced LOX, COLIVA1 (p<0.05). Corneal Stiffness(CS) correlated with ectatic zone specific TNF-α and LOX levels. CS values on multizone Corvis showed statistically significant difference between superior (non-ectatic) and remaining (ectactic) zones in KC (p=0.01), not seen in controls (p=0.4). Biomechanics correlated with molecular signatures

Conclusions:

This study elucidates that KC corneas are non-uniform at biomechanical and molecular levels, which could help plan future differential customised treatment, implementing newer medical therapies to strengthen KC corneas to combat and monitor disease progression and beyond topographic indices.

Financial Disclosure:

None