Comparative Study of Accelerated and Conventional Corneal CXL for Keratoconus: 1-Year Results
Narrative Responses:
Purpose
Collagen Crosslinking (CXL) is promising method to halt the progression of ectactic corneal diseases by strengthening the biomechanical stability between the collagenous strands of the cornea. Herein, we report the early clinical results and compare Accelerated CXL to Conventional CXL.
Methods
31 eyes of 22 keratoconus patients were randomly selected. 14 eyes had Accelerated CXL (ACXL) (20 minutes riboflavin presoak; 3 minutes of 30 mW/cm2 UVA light) and 18 eyes had Conventional CXL (CXL) (30 minutes presoak riboflavin, 30 minutes of 3 mW/cm2 UVA light). The outcomes in terms of visual acuity, keratometric readings, endothelial cell density counts (ECD), morphological change observed by confocal microscopy, demarcation line observed by Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and biomechanical change observed by Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA) and Corvis ST were taken, analyzed and compared.
Results
There were no statistically significant changes between the groups in terms of uncorrected distance visual acuity, corrected distance visual acuity, manifest refractive sphere equivalence, keratometric readings, biomechanical parameters determined by ORA and Corvis ST or ECD. In addition, similar morphological changes and a pronounced demarcation line were apparent in both groups.
Conclusion
ACXL and conventional CXL are similar in terms of effectiveness and safety but ACXL reduces the treatment time significantly.