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10 | EYEWORLD | APRIL 2022
ASCRS NEWS
posterior corneal steepening, epithelial mapping, and hys-
teresis. Diagnosing keratoconus is important, but treatment
of this disease to prevent progression with riboflavin UV
crosslinking when it was approved by the FDA in 2016 was
the landmark event that changed everything.
Despite the FDA approval of riboflavin UV crosslinking,
we continue to perform thousands of corneal transplan-
tations for this disease on a yearly basis. I routinely see
patients referred for initial corneal evaluation when they
have keratometries in the 60s and will require a rigid con-
tact lens or surgery. We need to do a better job of diagnos-
ing keratoconus earlier and knowing which patients are at
risk. The etiology of keratoconus is multifactorial, but the
latest innovation for recognizing patients who have a high-
risk profile is a simple buccal swab DNA test from Avellino
that analyzes multiple genetic markers. Now patients with
family histories, high cylinder, irregular topography, and
thin pachymetry can have another data point that supports
following them more closely or can be the deciding factor
in when to do crosslinking. Hopefully one day soon, with
the aid of crosslinking and better diagnostic testing, we will
eradicate the need for corneal transplantation for keratoco-
nus. I am very much looking forward to that day.
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ASCRS Annual Meeting
by the numbers
4 General Sessions
22 symposia
91 courses
30 skills transfer labs
950+ papers and posters
170 films and the 40th ASCRS Film Festival
3 Subspecialty Day programs
5 ASCRS Satellite CME programs
200+ companies in the ASCRS Exhibit Hall
*Numbers subject to change
