QUESTION:
Is astigmatism in cyclopegia the same as astigmatism in non-cyclopegia or not?
This is a technical question, and the patient shows to know the methods used by ophthalmologists to highlight refractive errors.
ANSWER:
The patient’s doubt is correct. The astigmatism highlighted in cyclopegia is not truthful since cyclopegia causes an unnatural stretching of the crystalline lens as a secondary effect, hence the evaluation of astigmatism is slightly distorted.
The doctor is usually aware of this problem, so he takes the results with a pinch of salt and with the proper considerations; in any case, another evaluation out from the presence of the cycolopegic effect would be useful and fair.