Classic textbooks teach that the incidence of keratoconus is one per 2,000. That would equate to about 170,000 patients with keratoconus in the United States.
However, more recent studies suggest the incidence of keratoconus is at least 10 times higher, or one per 200, equating to 1.17 million patients. We ophthalmologists know that keratoconus is a common diagnosis in our practices, suggesting that the higher number is more accurate.
Keratoconus can be suspected with standard office equipment including retinoscopy, refraction and keratometry, but corneal topography and tomography are the