UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hello friends:

pardon me for the the ignorance, I am trying to build my knowledge on KC, as I have been recently diagnosed and have been reading the forums intensely since then! I notice that in the discussions there have been references to the various stages of KC (i.e. mild, moderate, advanced) So how do I know how severe my KC is? and what defines the severity of the KC? is it the thickness of the cornea (measured in microns) or is it the steepness? I often see the latter being referrd to as measured in "D's" which dtands for "Diapotres" I assume?

Thanks everyone!

Mile/Moderate/Severe is a relative term. Some specialists put ranges on the K value from corneal topographies to pidgeon hole people.

However for the patient it is how they are affceted. Without vision correction I a legally blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other and to me no longer has a negative impact on my life just a minor inconvenience. With the adaptions I have made with my so called sever KC I know I cope better than some with mild KC.

So although an optom might say you have mild KC, if it impacts severly on your life then can it be mild?

Thanks GarethB for your reply and weighing-in.

I just need to make sense of all the numbers and measurements that are mentoned on the boards so that I can understand where I stand comapred to other people here and with respect to th issues that are being discussed, as it would help understand how I am beng affected as well. An explanation of these "K values", "D's" and "microns" would be greatly appreciated!

So how do I know how severe my KC is? and what defines the severity of the KC? is it the thickness of the cornea (measured in microns) or is it the steepness? I often see the latter being referrd to as measured in "D's" which dtands for "Diapotres" I assume?

This imo is an outstanding key question and hopefully it will be clarified here. As you say what is mild and when does KC become severe/advanced.

It would be alot easier if KC was objectively graded by the professionals. Eg on a scale of 0-10. This would then enable us to be properly informed/know were our condition lies and how it progresses with time. Each eye should be graded as well as combined overall KC score for both eyes.

It would also enable this website to have its forum structured to these gradings and become alot easier as a source of reference.

I know this won't help you out with your search for numbers and the like, but I've been seeing a really good optom lately and he recons that my KC is the worst "non grafted" he has ever seen. He tells me that I need to have the graft in the next 6 months or I could perhaps loose vision altogether.

Maybe that should be the starting point for "severe KC"

One point tho regarding my KC.

My unaided VA is off the chart (6/120 cause I can't read the top letter) however with contacts in, my VA is between 6/7.5 and 6/9. On top of this I get 16 hours of realativly easy and trouble free contact lens wear time each and every day.

So does this mean I still have severe KC when GarethB's thoughts are applied.

I think quality of life has a lot of input into how "bad" you KC is when thinking of it other than from a purely medical point of view

(I really hope I made some sence then, as I feel like I'm rambling a bit)