Demographic and clinical characteristics of childhood and adult onset Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis in a tertiary care center during Covid pandemic: A prospective study.

Abstract

Objective: To study the demographic and clinical characteristics of childhood and adult onset vernal keratoconjunctivitis in a tertiary care center during Covid pandemic. Methods: A prospective, hospital-based study including a total of 135 patients with Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) studied from June 2021 to June 2022 in a tertiary care center in India. Results: Patients presented were in the age range of 1½ to 30 years old. Adult onset VKC included 10.4% of the total patients. The disease was found to be more common in males, with a male to female ratio of 2.5:1. Limbal VKC was the most common presentation found in 61.5% of the patients followed by palpebral type in 28.9% and mixed type in 10.4% of the patients. Severity wise moderate intermittent form of the disease was found to be the most common in 49.6% of the patients. Steroid induced glaucoma was found to be the most common complication in 8.89% of the patients, requiring regular monitoring of intraocular pressure and change in treatment regime, followed by shield ulcer in 2.96% and limbal stem cell deficiency and Keratoconus in 1.48%. Conclusion: This study represents the nature of Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis and its presentation in North India, showing regional variations in the presentation of the disease due to different environmental conditions and the variations in aggression in management protocol. It also emphasizes the regular monitoring of intraocular pressure and the supervision on rising Adult onset VKC.