Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40765010›Full record

ArticleEye and vision (London, England)2025

Corneal epithelial aberrations: a novel diagnostic tool for keratoconus and forme fruste keratoconus.

Rui Ning, Chak Seng Lei, Xinning Yang, Yue Li, Yizhou Yang, Ingemar Gustafsson, Giacomo Savini, Domenico Schiano-Lomoriello, Xingtao Zhou, Xiaoying Wang and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Eye and vision (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Rui Ning *Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases; Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Chak Seng Lei *Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases; Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Xinning YangSchool of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
Yue LiEye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Yizhou YangEye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases; Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Ingemar GustafssonDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Ophthalmology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Giacomo SaviniG.B. Bietti Foundation I.R.C.C.S., Rome, Italy.
Domenico Schiano-LomorielloG.B. Bietti Foundation I.R.C.C.S., Rome, Italy.
Xingtao ZhouEye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases; Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Xiaoying WangEye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases; Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China. xiaoyingbbb@163.com.
Jinhai HuangEye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases; Key Laboratory of Myopia and Related Eye Diseases, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China. vip999vip@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9952-3175

Funding

EYE & ENT Hospital of Fudan University High-level Talents Program 2021318Medical Engineering Fund of Fudan University yg2023-06National Health Commission National Key Clinical Specialty Construction Project Z155080000004Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning TP2022046Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality 22S11900200Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality 23XD1420500
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo assess the ability of corneal epithelial aberrations to discriminate forme fruste keratoconus (FFKC) and keratoconus (KC) from normal eyes.

methodsThis prospective, case-control study enrolled 91 right eyes from 91 normal participants, 87 eyes with FFKC and 148 eyes with KC. Epithelial aberrations for the 6-mm pupil were measured using an anterior segment optical coherence tomography (MS-39, CSO). The epithelial root mean square of higher and lower-order aberrations (total RMS), root mean square of higher-order aberrations (HOAs RMS, from the 3rd to the 7th Zernike polynomials), coma, trefoil, spherical aberration, and secondary astigmatism were recorded. Stepwise logistic regression was utilized to develop the epithelial aberrations index (EAI) for obtaining the optimal discriminant function to diagnose FFKC (EAI-FFKC) and KC (EAI-KC). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) analysis was used to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the indices.

resultsFFKC and KC eyes had significantly higher epithelial aberrations than normal eyes. Comparing FFKC with the normal group, epithelial HOAs RMS and coma attained AUC values of 0.714 and 0.788, respectively. The EAI-FFKC showed the highest discrimination ability to differentiate FFKC from normal eyes indicated by an AUC value of 0.822 with 77.0% sensitivity and 75.8% specificity. Comparing KC with the normal group, epithelial HOAs RMS attained AUC values of 0.976-0.998 with 95.2%-100% sensitivity and 92.3%-96.7% specificity, epithelial coma attained AUC values of 0.974-0.997 with 92.9%-100% sensitivity and 96.7%-98.9% specificity. The EAI-KC showed the highest discriminative ability to differentiate KC from normal eyes indicated by AUC of 0.996 with 98.6% sensitivity and 98.9% specificity.

conclusionEpithelial wavefront analysis can identify abnormal epithelial changes across all stages of KC, from very early to severe. Epithelial aberrations can be used as a diagnostic tool for KC and FFKC.

Indexed as

Corneal epithelial aberrationsDiagnosticForme fruste keratoconusKeratoconus

Identifiers

PMID40765010
PMCPMC12326862

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.