Keratoconus progression in patients with allergy and elevated surface matrix metalloproteinase 9 point-of-care test

Session Details

Session Title: Medical Cornea & Biomechanics

Session Date/Time: Sunday 23/09/2018 | 08:00-10:00

Paper Time: 09:36

Venue: Room A3, Podium 3

First Author: : S.Bagaglia ITALY

Co Author(s): :    C. Mazzotta                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To asses Keratoconus (KC) progression in patients with allergies who also tested positive to surface matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) point-of-care test.

Setting:

Opthalmology Unit, University of Siena, Viale Mario Bracci , Siena, ITALY Siena Cross Linking Center, ITALY

Methods:

Methods: Prospective comparative study including 100 stage I-II keratoconic patients, mean age 16.7 ± 4.6 years. All patients underwent an anamnestic questionnaire for concomitant allergic diseases and were screened with the MMP-9 point-of-care test. Patients were divided into 2 groups: KC patients with allergies (KC AL) and KC patients without allergies (KC NAL). Severity of allergy was established by papillary sub-tarsal response grade (PSR) and keratoconus progression assessed by Scheimpflug corneal tomography, corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) measurement in a 12-month follow-up.

Results:

KC AL group included 52 patients and KC NAL group 48. In the KC AL group 42/52 of patients (81%) were positive to MMP-9 test vs 2 patients in the KC NAL group (4%). The KC AL group showed a statistically significant decrease of average CDVA, from 0.155±0.11 to 0.301±0.2 logMAR (p <0.005) at 12 months; K max value increased significantly, from 50.2 D ±2.7 to 55.2 D ±1.9. KC NAL group revealed keratoconus progression without statistically significant changes. Pearson’s correlation test showed high correlation between K max worsening and severity of PRG in the KC AL group

Conclusions:

The study demonstrated a statistically significant progression of KC in patients with concomitant allergies, positive to MMP-9 point-of-care test vs negative. A high correlation between severity of allergy and keratoconus progression was documented.

Financial Disclosure:

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