Not Sure?

[Angie B]

My daughter is only 4 yrs.old and has worn glasses for about a year. We went for an eye exam today the Dr. told me her eyes are "egg shaped". I'm not sure what he means. Her vision has became worse in the past year. Is it possible for a child to have keratoconus?

[Prue B]

I took my 4 year old to the opthalmologist after being referred by an optometrist. both my sister and I have KC. I also took my 6 year old son who has been diagnosed with an astigmatism. I was told by the opthal that my daughter has a steep oblique astigmatism in both eyes. One tends to long sighted one to short. the Left eye is worse than the right, greater astigmatism, but the right tends to longsighted and is lazy. She also say she believes she has KC. She has not diagnosed it but says oblique astigmatisms are more commanly seen in KC, irreguallar astigmatisms are more comman in KC (he left is greater than her right) and she also has a strong family history.
My son she says her gut tells her it is a regular steep astigmatism, he will always need glasses, but she doubts it will become cones. He has his astigmatism on the axis which is much more "Normal" and will require glasses for the rest of his life.
So yes it is possible for a young child to have KC, but it is extremely rare. The youngest I have heard of is 5 and that turned out to be a mild case, poorly diagnosed, and 7.
I have read some wear that most astigmatisms (of any note) cause the cornea to look oval or egg shaped. There is a theory that everyone has some degree of astigmatism, but most are so close to spherical it does not affect sight. when they get to egg shaped they do affect vision. However not all astigmatisms are KC. In fact most are not.

[globusguy]

if the doc has said her eyes are egg shaped it means that she may require a myopic correction
tc
gg

[Andrew MacLean]

Don't panic!

Optometrists are fond of finding odd ways to describe eyes to patients. I think they imagine they can put your mind at rest by using a "familiar" image, rther than alarm you with technical words.

You may find that new specs will correct your daughter's vision. If not you can cross bridges as you get to them. Stay in touch here.

All the best

Andrew