Computer-assisted corneal topography in parents of patients with keratoconus

Recently developed computer-assisted devices allow detection of early topographic abnormalities of the cornea, including mild or abortive forms of keratoconus. To address the possibility that keratoconus is an inherited condition, we examined both parents of 12 randomly selected patients with keratoconus whom we were following up. Of the 12 sets of parents, at least one parent in each of seven sets had abnormal corneal characteristics. Using previously determined quantitative criteria (eg, central corneal steepening, greater steepening inferiorly than superiorly, and asymmetry between the two eyes) to distinguish normal from keratoconic corneas we found evidence of keratoconus in at least one of the 14 parents. The remaining five patients had parents with normal corneal characteristics. These data support the hypothesis that keratoconus is sometimes an inherited condition, exhibiting, at least in some families, autosomal dominant inheritance with incomplete penetrance.