SPECIFIC CORNEAL PARAMETERS AND VISUAL ACUITY CHANGES AFTER CORNEAL CROSSLINKING TREATMENT FOR PROGRESSIVE...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Corneal Surgery
• Vision Science

Background:

• Keratoconus is a progressive corneal ectasia leading to visual impairment.
• Corneal crosslinking (CXL) is a therapeutic option for stabilizing keratoconus.
• Evaluating CXL's impact on visual acuity and corneal topography is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficacy of CXL in altering visual acuity.
• To analyze changes in corneal topographic parameters after CXL.
• To evaluate the effect of CXL on corneal curvature, thickness, astigmatism, coma, and Cone Localisation and Magnitude Index (CLMIaa).

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study of 29 eyes from 24 patients with progressive keratoconus.
• Monitored parameters included anterior and posterior corneal curvature, corneal thickness, astigmatism, coma, CLMIaa, uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA).
• Data were analyzed before and 12 months after CXL using paired t-tests and Wilcoxon tests.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant decreases in thinnest corneal thickness (p=0.027), coma (p=0.037), and anterior corneal curvature (p=0.005 to p=0.019) were observed.
• Improvements in UDVA and CDVA were noted but did not reach statistical significance (p=0.371 and p=0.825, respectively).
• No statistically significant changes were found in posterior corneal curvature or astigmatism.

Conclusions:

• CXL therapy is effective in stabilizing progressive keratoconus.
• CXL significantly improves anterior corneal curvature and reduces coma.
• Observed improvements in visual acuity suggest CXL's potential benefit for vision quality in keratoconus patients.