EVALUATING THE ASSOCIATION OF KERATOCONUS WITH CONSANGUINITY

To determine the relation between consanguinity and keratoconus (KC).  Study Design: Comparative cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: Ophthalmology department of The University of Lahore Teaching Hospital, Lahore from 12th February to 18th June, 2021. Methods:A comparative cross sectional study was carried out to find the relation between consanguinity and keratoconus. 30 KC diagnosed patients were included in the study according to sample size. A self administered questionnaire was made to collect information about demographic data, various KC findings, clinical signs andnature of marriage between the parents of the participants. Results:Out of 30recruitedKC patients with age ranging between 10-30 years, 13 subjects were male and 17 were female. 56.7% of patients reported with first parental cousin marriage, 26.7% with second, 6.7% with third and 10% with out of family parental marriages. Relation between consanguinity and KC was obtained with P< 0.05, showing the results were significant. Results showed that the patients whose parents had consanguinity of first degree were more susceptible to the disease and had more severe keratoconus than rest of the population. Conclusion:This study supports the hypothesis that a significant direct association between keratoconus and consanguinity persists. Results show, risk of Keratoconus development is much higher in parental consanguinity of first degree than other type of intermarriages. KC in such susceptible group was observed to be more progressive.