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Keratoglobus
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025
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Keratoglobus is a spherical cornea. The cause of the disease, as with keratoconus, is a genetically determined weakness of the elastic properties of the cornea. Unlike keratoconus, it is not the central but the peripheral parts of the cornea that stretch, so it increases in size, bulges and takes the shape of a ball. The depth of the anterior chamber increases and can reach 8-10 mm. The sudden appearance of edema of the entire cornea is called acute keratoglobus, or corneal hydrocele.
[ Symptoms of Keratoglobus
Keratoglobus manifests itself in childhood and can be combined with other changes in the eye and general pathology, such as blue sclera syndrome (Van der Hoeve), which includes hearing loss and brittle bones.
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Treatment of keratoglobus
As the process progresses, the curvature of the cornea and the total length of the eyeball gradually increase, the refraction of the eye increases, and the degree of myopia and astigmatism increases. In the initial stages, glasses and contact lenses are effective in correcting visual acuity.
With significant corneal stretching and irregular astigmatism, it is not possible to find a satisfactory correction, so the issue of surgical treatment is decided. Penetrating subtotal keratoplasty for keratoglobus is much more difficult to perform than for keratoconus, due to the sharp thinning of the peripheral part of the cornea, where the donor transplant is fixed. The operation gives a good result if the parents help the child in the postoperative period for a year to be careful when moving, to avoid accidental injuries.