Cross-Linking Indications and Effective Timing

Director, Refractive Surgery Department Dunya Eye Hospital Istanbul, Turkey. Laser Focus-Centre for Eye Microsurgery, 1KBC Zvezdara, Belgrade, Serbia. 3 Clinical Research Associate Refractive Surgery Department Dunya Eye Hospital Istanbul, Turkey. Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland. The first clinical results of collagen cross-linking in keratoconus were reported by a research group from Dresden University in 2003. In this study, 23 eyes of 22 patients with keratoconus were included and only one eye of each patient was treated except one case that was treated bilaterally. The follow-up period was from 3 to 47 (23,2 ± 12,9) months. The BCVA improved in 65% of the patients by an average of 1.26 lines. The refractive correction improved by an average of 1.14D. In 70% of the patients, maximum K was flattened by an average of 2.01D. K value remained stable in 5 patients and in 1 patient an increase of 0.28D was present. In 22% of the fellow control eyes, however maximum K value increased by an average of 1.48D. The same research group later published their long-term results in 2008 on 153 eyes of 111 patients. The minimal follow-up time was 12 months and the maximum follow-up was 7,5 years.