Wavefront analysis: An additional tool for detection of keratoconus

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study is to analyze the role of wavefront analysis as an additional tool for the detection of keratoconus in three groups of patients (i.e., simple refractive errors, high astigmatism, and keratoconus). Design: This study was a prospective comparative study. Patients and Methods: In this prospective comparative study, a total of 115 eyes of 62 patients were examined. All the patients had a complete examination done, which included best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, slit-lamp and fundus examination, and corneal topography for diagnosis of keratoconus. Higher-order aberrations (HOAs) (coma, spherical aberration, and trefoil) were examined using Tscherning aberrometer, based on WaveLight® analyzer II. Statistical Analysis: The one-way analysis of variance test was used. Results: Spherical aberrations were reported highest in the patients with high astigmatism (mean value: 0.149), which was statistically significant when compared to simple refractive errors (P = 0.046). Trefoil aberrations were reported highest in patients with high astigmatism group (mean value: 5.579) in comparison to the other two groups (i.e., simple refractive errors and keratoconus) but were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Coma and total aberrations were reported highest in keratoconus group (mean value: 0.314 and 2.058, respectively) in comparison to other groups (i.e., simple refractive error and high astigmatism), which was found to be highly significant (P = 0.000). Root-mean-square values of Zernike coefficient polynomials up to the third order were analyzed. Conclusions: This study highlights that assessment of HOAs using wavefront analysis can be used as an additional tool in the early diagnosis of keratoconus in addition to other standard methods.