Prevalence and associations of steep cornea/keratoconus in Greater Beijing. The Beijing Eye Study

• Published in: PloS one 2012-07, Vol.7 (7), p.e39313-e39313
• Main Authors: Xu, Liang, Wang, Ya Xing, Guo, Yin, You, Qi Sheng, Jonas, Jost B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acuity; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biology; Blood; Blood pressure; Body height; C-reactive protein; China - epidemiology; Cognitive ability; Cornea; Creatinine; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cylindrical errors; Digital cameras; Error correction; Eye; Eye contact; Eye lens; Female; Humans; Intraocular pressure; Keratoconus; Keratoconus - epidemiology; Lipids; Male; Medicare; Medicine; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Parameters; Population; Population studies; Prevalence; Quality of life; Reflectometry; Refractive Errors - epidemiology; Visual acuity
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039313

To evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of steep cornea/keratoconus in the adult Chinese population. The population-based Beijing Eye Study 2011 included 3468 individuals with a mean age of 64.6±9.8 years (range: 50-93 years). A detailed ophthalmic examination was performed including optical low-coherence reflectometry. Steep cornea/keratoconus were defined as an anterior corneal refractive power exceeding 48 diopters. Mean refractive power of the cornea was 43.16±1.45 diopters (range: 36.51 to 48.46 diopters; flattest meridian) and 43.98±1.52 diopters (range: 37.00 to 52.88 diopters; steepest meridian). A steep cornea/keratoconus defined as corneal refractive power of ≥48 diopters and ≥49 diopters was detected in 27 subjects (prevalence rate: 0.9±0.2%) and 6 (0.2± 0.1%) subjects, respectively. Presence of steep cornea/keratoconus was associated with shorter axial length (P