Simulated Keratometry Repeatability in Subjects with and without Down Syndrome.

Abstract

To assess the repeatability of simulated keratometry measures obtained with Zeiss Atlas topography for subjects with and without Down syndrome (DS). Corneal topography was attempted on 140 subjects with DS and 138 controls (aged 7-59 years). Subjects who had at least three measures in each eye were included in analysis (DS: n = 140 eyes (70 subjects) and controls: n = 264 eyes (132 subjects)). For each measurement, the steep corneal power (K), corneal astigmatism, flat K orientation, power vector representation of astigmatism (J0, J45), and astigmatic dioptric difference were determined for each measurement (collectively termed keratometry values here). For flat K orientation comparisons, only eyes with >0.50 DC of astigmatism were included (DS: n = 131 eyes (68 subjects) and control: n = 217 eyes (119 subjects)). Repeatability was assessed using (1) group mean variability (average standard deviation (SD) across subjects), (2) coefficient of repeatability (COR), (3) coefficient of variation (COV), and (4) intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The keratometry values showed good repeatability as evidenced by low group mean variability for DS versus control eyes (≤0.26D vs. ≤0.09D for all dioptric values; 4.51° vs. 3.16° for flat K orientation); however, the group mean variability was significantly higher in DS eyes than control eyes for all parameters (p ≤ 0.03). On average, group mean variability was 2.5 times greater in the DS eyes compared to control eyes across the keratometry values. Other metrics of repeatability also indicated good repeatability for both populations for each keratometry value, although repeatability was always better in the control eyes. DS eyes showed more variability (on average: 2.5×) compared to controls for all keratometry values. Although differences were statistically significant, on average 91% of DS eyes had variability ≤0.50D for steep K and astigmatism, and 75% of DS eyes had variability ≤5 degrees for flat K orientation.