International Ophthalmology - Topical collection "New Treatments for Keratoconus"

Editor: Prof. Emilio Pedrotti, MD, FEBO (Eye Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and

Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy) e-mail: emilio.pedrotti@univr.it (this opens in a new tab)

Keratoconus is a bilateral and usually asymmetrical disease that has always been regarded as rare. The refinement of diagnostic techniques and innovative technological support from the last years has led to an increment in new and earlier diagnoses. Keratoconus is a worldwide issue, all ethnicities can be affected and there’s none significant difference of prevalence between males and females. Visual impairment is the main debilitating symptom, typically presenting in adolescence, with progression until the third or fourth decade of life. The disease burden on quality of life for the productive categories of working age population and its lifetime costs represent a current and prospective concern for both society and the healthcare system.

Many treatments (both medical and surgical) have been developed in the last decades, depending on the stage of the disease, but the management is still challenging and a large variety of new treatments is emerging.

The topical collection“New Treatments for Keratoconus (this opens in a new tab)” published in International Ophthalmology strives to

• increase insights and interest in Keratoconus
• draw attention to the innovative treatments available
• provide an overview on treatment options at different stages

The Topical Collection also intends to

• suggest improvements in standard techniques
• investigate upsides and limitations of new therapeutic options
• stimulate new ideas

We encourage authors to submit original research articles and review articles related to this increasingly developing topic.

Please note that a Topical Collection is a continuous section of the journal. It receives and collects papers invited or unsolicited relating to a particular subject or concept. A Topical Collection is not a Special Issue or a Supplement to the journal. The manuscripts are not submitted at the same time, and they do not appear in a single issue of the journal.

A Topical Collection functions both as a call for papers on a specific topic and as an index of the articles that have been submitted, peer-reviewed, accepted and published in the journal on that subject.

For any submission related queries, you can contact Patrizia Bianchi, Springer Nature Editor (patrizia.bianchi@springer.com).