The HUC progression score: A new method for determining KERATOCONUS progression.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Corneal Disease
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Keratoconus is a progressive corneal ectasia.
• Accurate assessment of keratoconus progression is crucial for timely intervention.
• Existing criteria may not fully account for measurement variability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish new criteria for keratoconus progression.
• To incorporate the repeatability limit of the Pentacam HR (high resolution) tomographer.
• To develop a more precise score for evaluating keratoconus evolution.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective observational study of 224 eyes in 154 keratoconus patients.
• Analysis of a new keratoconus progression score from Cruces University Hospital.
• Score incorporates maximum keratometry, thinnest corneal thickness, posterior elevation, and corneal aberrations, based on tomographer repeatability.

Main Results:

• The new score demonstrated high accuracy in validation (ROC curves).
• Younger patients showed a higher likelihood of keratoconus progression (14.3% of eyes).
• The new score indicated crosslinking for only 2 eyes, with no observed progression post-treatment.

Conclusions:

• The Cruces University Hospital's new progression score is based on the repeatability limit of keratoconus diagnostics.
• This score is easily interpretable and implementable with Pentacam software.
• It provides a numerical evaluation of anterior/posterior corneal surfaces and aberrations in keratoconus progression.