Clinical Outcomes at 1 Year following Corneal Ectasia Treatment with Accelerated Transepithelial Cross-linking

ABSTRACT Objective To assess the clinical outcomes in ectatic corneas following accelerated transepithelial cross-linking (CXL) over 1 year of follow-up. Materials and methods Twenty-one eyes diagnosed with progressive corneal ectasia (19 keratoconus, 2 post-laser in situ keratomileusis ectasias) in 14 patients aged between 26 and 69 years were enrolled. All cases were treated with accelerated transepithelial CXL using the Avedro KXL ® system (Waltham, MA, United States). Changes at visual, refractive, corneal topographic, and corneal aberrometric level were evaluated over a 12-month follow-up period. The demarcation was also determined using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results The mean depth of the demarcation line measured by OCT was 202.72 µm, varying between 153 and 230 µm. One month postsurgery, a change was noted at the limit of statistical significance in sphere (p = 0.05) and in spherical equivalent (p = 0.05). Likewise, a statistically significant difference was observed in corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) (p = 0.01). There were no significant changes in either visual acuity or refraction between 1 and 6 months (p ≥ 0.35). Although changes in trend were observed in corneal topographic and aberrometric parameters after surgery, none reached statistical significance (p ≥ 0.08). A significant change was observed only in astigmatism of the posterior surface between 1 and 12 months (p = 0.02). Conclusion Accelerated transepithelial CXL may be a useful technique for the management of progressive corneal ectasia, as it is able to maintain the topographic and aberrometric profile of the cornea with no significant changes. Longer-term studies are required to confirm this finding How to cite this article Piñero DP, Artola A, Ruiz-Fortes P, Soto-Negro R, Pérez-Cambrodi RJ. Clinical Outcomes at 1 Year following Corneal Ectasia Treatment with Accelerated Transepithelial Cross-linking. Int J Kerat Ect Cor Dis 2016;5(3):93-98.