الفهرس 
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Abstract
Keratoconus is a common degenerative, non-inflammatory disease, that causes axial protrusion of the cornea and stromal thinning which eventually makes the corneal conical in shape [1]. We aimed to determine the prevalence of keratoconus in the different geographical distributions and to detect possible risk factors of Keratoconus in individuals attending refractive surgery centers in Assiut governorate.
• Methods: The study was conducted in two stages, the first stage is a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of Keratoconus in different geographical distributions in Assiut. The second stage is a case-control study to demonstrate the correlations and risk factors of Keratoconus depending on the sociodemographics of a random sample of patients compared to the control group. The study randomly chose three refractive surgery centers in Assiut to conduct our study Al Forsan Center, Al Nour Center, and Modern Eye Center during a period from January 2021 to June 2021.
• Results: Our study included a total number of 1631 patients attending three refractive surgery centers in Assiut. from the studied sample, 174 (10.7 %) patients were diagnosed with keratoconus and this was statistically significant with a P-value of 0.028. The highest prevalence was in El-Fath (15.6%) , then Assiut City (14.5%), Sedfa (13.7%).
• Conclusions: The prevalence of keratoconus in the Assiut governorate is (10.7%) among patients included in the study. Keratoconus highest prevalence was among adolescents and bilateral affection is the most common presentation. Keratoconus is strongly associated with positive consanguinity and ocular allergy. Most of our patients were found in Grades III and II respectively. Compound myopic astigmatism is the most common refractive error found in keratoconus patients.