[Corneal collagen cross-linking novel technique for prevention of keratoconus progression: results after one-year at the Sheba Medical Center].

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Keratoconus is a progressive corneal degenerative disease that appears in young adults and causes progressive myopia and irregular astigmatism affecting visual acuity. The quality of life may be severely impaired in these young adults. Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking (CXL) is a novel technique aimed at stopping disease progression. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the refractive and topographic outcome 12 months after CXL treatment in patients with progressive keratoconus. METHODS: In this retrospective case series, 15 eyes of 14 patients with progressive keratoconus were treated with standard CXL. Patients were assessed preoperatively, at week 1 and at months 1, 3, 6, and 12 after treatment. Outcome measures included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) refraction, biomicroscopy and fundus examination, corneal topography and pachymetry. RESULTS: Comparing the preoperative data with 12 months postoperative results, we observed stabilization of the average keratometry values 51.2 to 50.67 (diopters), P = 0.605. The BCVA values remained stable 0.47 to 0.57 (decimal point) P = 0.6626. CONCLUSION: Our series of patients with progressive keratoconus supports the effect of crosslinking to prevent disease progression. Regularization of the corneal keratometry values and minor improvement of the visual acuity may be additional benefits of this procedure.