With a ‘cone eye’ the world looks completely different and distorted. The cornea is weakened and becomes even more crooked than is normally the case. Due to the cone shape, light no longer reaches the eye in the correct way, resulting in diffuse images. Reality no longer seems as it is. What can be done about keratoconus to ensure normal functioning?

Cone eye, keratoconus

• Deformed cornea
• Common symptoms
• Diagnosis Keratoconus
• How to treat cone eye?

Deformed cornea

The condition in which the upper cornea of the eye becomes thin, causing it to contract and warp into a cone shape is called keratoconus. Because it occurs in one in fifteen hundred people, a fair share of the population is affected by this condition. It is usually passed on from generation to generation. Yet there is no clear explanation why some people develop this condition. It often starts in childhood and fully develops before the age of thirty. Gradually the person notices that the field of vision becomes distorted. These changes can stop at any time, but can also last for several years. The condition often affects both eyes, but the severity of the symptoms can vary per eye. What can be done about keratoconus?

Common symptoms

Due to the deformation of the eye cornea, incoming light is incorrectly transmitted to the lens of the eye, causing points of light to be incorrectly projected onto the retina. The visual acuity of the eye decreases rapidly, and the diffuse effect of the cone also causes light hypersensitivity. One can start to see things that are not really there, because it forms an irregular, blurry image. It works exactly the opposite way as the eye of a mosquito. The mosquito’s eye is made up of many small surfaces, with which a large part of the environment can be monitored in detail with a small eye. Because the human eye is fused, a single detail in the eyeball is spread over a large area of the retina. One sees dots everywhere while there is only a single source. This obviously creates a lot of confusion for the person with this condition and can lead to dysfunction.

Diagnosis Keratoconus

To determine whether you suffer from keratoconus, the doctor can test your eyes. You will also be asked questions about the symptoms that occur. In the early stages, these may include:

• double vision (diplopia) or a disturbance in vision with a single eye;
• one eye shows a clearly different image than the other eye;
• everything looks distorted and no longer corresponds to reality;
• the halo effect when looking at bright objects.

In addition, the treating physician can measure the curve of the cornea to determine whether there are any clear abnormalities. This can also be done by creating a three-dimensional map of the cornea. Please note that sometimes the cone eye can be caused by other conditions, such as Alport syndrome.

How to treat cone eye?

If there is a cone eye, a number of techniques can be applied to prevent deterioration. Consider the following:

Specially shaped contact lenses

These contact lenses have a fixed shape so that they provide support to the cornea, as it were, contact. The additional support ensures that the current form is maintained as much as possible. Please ask your treating physician which type of contact lens is most suitable for your circumstances.

Strengthen the cornea

A second way to slow or even stop the progression of the condition is by strengthening the inner structure of the cornea itself. Stronger material ensures that the material warps less. This is achieved by applying the crosslinking method, in which vitamin B in combination with UV light strengthens the cornea.

Corneal transplantation

If the condition has progressed too far and there are too many scars on the cornea and contact lenses no longer offer any additional value, a cornea transplant can still be considered. To this end, only the affected part of the cornea is transplanted to promote accelerated recovery.

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