Corneal degenerations in central India: Clinical profile and visual impact

Abstract

Aims: To study cases of corneal degenerations presenting to a tertiary eye care centre in central India with\nregards to their clinical profile, socio-demographic parameters, association with dry eye and their visual\nimpairment at presentation.\nMaterials and Methods: Cases of corneal degenerations presenting to our Cornea Clinic in a span of\none year were identified and categorized. Details were noted regarding age, sex, socioeconomic status,\nresidential locality, occupation, working conditions and prior ocular history. Dry eye assessment was done\nusing Schirmer test and patients were sorted under various categories of visual disability.\nResults: We came across a total of 127 cases of corneal degeneration, among which the maximum number\n(74.80%) were of Arcus Senilis (95 cases), followed by 10.24% Spheroidal Degeneration (13), 7.09% Band\nShaped Keratopathy (9), 5.51% Crocodile Shagreen (7), 1.57% Salzmann Nodular Degeneration (2) and\n0.79% Terriens Marginal Degeneration (1 case). The mean age was 61.66 years and the male: female ratio\nwas 1.89:1. Most cases belonged to low socioeconomic status (48.03%), urban locality (65.35%) and were\ninvolved in indoor work (67.72%), with the exception of spheroidal degeneration. Only 12.60% cases of\ndegeneration had Schirmer 1 values suggestive of dry eye problem ( (32.28%) fell in Category 2 of visual disability (75% impairment), excluding the 33.86% of cases which\nhad even Conclusion: The study sheds light on the profile of cases of corneal degenerations, some findings in\naccordance with the existing data and some not, in particular relevance to the current trend and the specified\nregion.\n\xa0\n\nKeywords:\xa0Clinical profile, Corneal degenerations,\xa0Sociodemographic factors,\xa0Visual impact.