Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate novel, reproducible cornea OCT (cOCT) findings the first 6 months and at least 3 years following collagen cross-linking (CXL) for keratoconus (KCN).
Methods: :
125 KCN patients (Laservision.gr Institute, Athens, Greece) who had been treated with CXL recently (group A) or earlier (group B) were enrolled in the study. They were evaluated in follow-up for: the presence and stromal depth of intrastromal CXL lines (I-CXL-l) using cOCT, corneal thickness in microns (CT), uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), keratometry (K), topography, endothelial cell count (ECC), and clarity.
Results: :
The mean follow-up time was 7 months (group A) and 38 months (group B). 68 of 71 patients in Group A and 51 of 54 in group B demonstrated I-CXL-l. The mean values for group A and group B were respectively: I-CXL-l depth: 255, 262; CT: 370, 380; UCVA: 20/60, 20/50; BSCVA: 20/40, 20/30; K: 49.5, 48.5; ECC: 2550, 2600.
Conclusions: :
cOCT appears to demonstrate reproducible early and long-term corneal findings in eyes treated with CXL, suggesting the use of cOCT as a possible novel non-invasive measurement to evaluate and titrate intrastromal effects of this treatment in KCN eyes.
Keywords: cornea: clinical science • keratoconus • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)