Cross-linking of corneal collagen (CXL) is a promising approach for the treatment of keratoconus and secondary ectasia. Several long-term and short-term complications of CXL have been studied and documented. The possibility of a secondary infection after the procedure exists because the patient is subjected to epithelial debridement and the application of a soft contact lens. Formation of tempo...

PURPOSE To investigate the effect of cross-linking treatment on corneal permeability in a live animal model. METHODS Rabbit eyes were selected at random to be left unoperated or to undergo epithelial debridement with or without treatment consisting of cross-linking (CXL) with riboflavin and ultraviolet-A. Nine eyes received a total dose of 3.6 J/cm² and after epithelial healing the corneas we...

PURPOSE To evaluate the safety and clinical outcome of phakic Visian toric implantable collamer lens (ICL) (STAAR Surgical, Monrovia, CA) insertion after corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) in progressive keratoconus. METHODS A retrospective study examined the results of the two-step CXL and Visian toric ICL implantation in 16 eyes of 10 patients with keratoconus. The two procedures were don...

INTRODUCTION Keratoconus is a noninflammatory cone-like ectasia of the cornea that can be managed by glasses, contact lenses, keratoplasty, crosslin king (CXL), and intrastromal corneal ring segment (ICRS) insertion, based on the stage of the disease and the patient’s symptoms. Despite being an evolutive disease, CXL has recently been utilized as a therapeutic option for stabilizing the cornea....

PURPOSE To compare the biomechanical properties of porcine, rabbit, and human sclera before and after riboflavin/ultraviolet-A (UVA) collagen cross-linking (CXL). METHODS Eight rabbits, 8 porcine eyeballs, and 8 human eyeballs were included. One rabbit eye and half of each bisected human and porcine eyeball were treated with riboflavin/UVA CXL. Untreated fellow rabbit eyes and eyeball halves ...

The Purpose of present study was to investigate the effect of riboflavin/ultraviolet-A-induced collagen cross-linking (CXL) on central cornea, limbus and intraocular pressure (IOP). This was an animal experimental study. The right corneas of 10 rabbits were ultraviolet-A irradiated (3 mW/cm2 for 30 minutes) after de-epithelialization and instillation of 0.1% riboflavin / 20% Dextran drops. Left...

PURPOSE Understanding corneal biomechanics is important to refractive or therapeutic corneal treatments. The authors studied the corneal response to variable intraocular pressure (IOP) in porcines eyes after UV collagen cross-linking (CXL), in comparison with untreated eyes. METHODS Twenty-three enucleated eyes were treated with standard CXL conditions (365 nm, 3 mW, 30 minutes), and 15 contr...

PURPOSE The effect of ultraviolet (UV)-riboflavin cross-linking (CXL) has been measured primarily using the strip extensometry technique. We propose a simple and reliable methodology for the assessment of CXL treatment by using an established rheologic protocol based on small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) measurements. It provides information on the average cross-link density and the elast...

To evaluate ocular fundus biological changes after scleral collagen cross-linking (CXL) with riboflavin/ ultraviolet A (UVA) on rhesus monkeys in vivo by analyzing retina and choroid biological parameters. Six 3-year-old male rhesus monkeys (12 eyes) were observed in this study, with scleral CXL procedures applied on superior temporal equatorial sclera on random eyes of all rhesus. Optical cohe...

PURPOSE To investigate changes in the morphology of the corneal stroma after collagen cross-linking (CXL) treatment in bovine and porcine eyes using a nonlinear microscope providing both two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) corneal images. METHODS Freshly enucleated eyes were imaged using a tomographic nonlinear imaging method that was highly suitable...