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Corneal Ectasia

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Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology

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Synonyms

Keratectasia; keratoectasia

Definition

A progressive thinning of the corneal stroma with subsequent increase of corneal curvature and induction of higher-order aberrations (HOA) due to irregular astigmatism. The origin of corneal ectasia can be a degenerative disease (keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration (Rabinowitz 1998)), a congenital anomaly (keratoglobus), or a mechanical trauma such as surgery (iatrogenic keratectasia (Seiler et al. 1998)). Ectasia due to other reasons (infection) is rare.

Histology

In all ectatic diseases, a stromal thinning can be observed. A recent histological study showed that ruptures in Bowman’s layer that are typical for keratoconus (KC) were absent in eyes with iatrogenic keratectasia (IK) (Meghpara et al. 2008). Immunohistochemical examinations revealed different expression patterns of α1-proteinase inhibitor and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in KC and IK eyes. KC showed lower levels of α1-proteinase inhibitor and higher levels of...

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References

  • Meghpara B, Nakamura H, Macsai M, Sugar J, Hidayat A, Yue BY, Edward DP (2008) Keratectasia after laser in situ keratomileusis: a histopathologic and immunohistochemical study. Arch Ophthalmol 126:1655–1663

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  • Morishige N, Wahlert AJ, Kenney MC, Brown DJ, Kawamoto K, Chikama T, Nishida T, Jester JV (2007) Second-harmonic imaging microscopy of normal human and keratoconus cornea. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48:1087–1094

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rabinowitz YS (1998) Keratoconus. Surv Ophthalmol 42:297–319

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  • Seiler T, Koufala K, Richter G (1998) Iatrogenic keratectasia after laser in situ keratomileusis. J Refract Surg 14:312–317

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Augenpraxisklinik Triangulum, Kurt-Blaum-Platz 8, D-63450, Hanau, Germany

    Jens Bühren

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  1. Jens Bühren
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Correspondence to Jens Bühren .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Medical University of Wien Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Wien, Austria

    Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Department of Ophthalmology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Kohnen

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© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bühren, J. (2016). Corneal Ectasia. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_432-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_432-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4

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