Long-Term Results Of Corneal Collagen Crosslinking Treatment In Keratoconus

To evaluate the long-term results of Corneal Collagen Crosslinking (CXL) treatment applied for keratoconus.

Retrospective cross sectional study.

The records of patients diagnosed with keratoconus and treated with CXL, with a follow-up period of at least 12 months, were retrospectively scanned. Patients' age, gender, follow-up period, before and after the procedure; uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in decimals, maximum keratometry (Kmax), minimum keratometry (Kmin) and central corneal thickness (CCT) values from corneal topography data were recorded.

A total of 161 eyes of 114 patients were evaluated. The average age of the patients was 18.2±4.9 (10-37) years. Of the 114 patients, 48 were men (42.1%) and 66 were women (57.9%). The average follow-up period was 22.6±15.6 (12-92) months. UCVA before and after the procedure were 0.28 and 0.35, respectively (p<0.001). BCVA before and after the procedure were 0.47 and 0.57, respectively (p<0.001). CCT was 435.99 and 426.79 µm before and after the procedure, respectively (p<0.001). Kmax before and after the procedure was 51.58 and 51.49 D, respectively. Kmin before and after the procedure was 46.37 and 46.39 D, respectively. There was no significant difference between the keratometry values before and after the procedure (p>0.05).

The findings in this study showed that CXL provided an increase in visual acuity in the long term and a decrease in CCT but did not cause a significant change in keratometry values. CXL seems to be an effective method to prevent keratoconus progression in the long term.