Corneal Cross Linkage in Patients with Unstable Keratoconus: Comparative Analysis of Visual Outcome after 1 Year Follow-up.

Objective: To report on 1-year postoperative visual outcome with the corneal cross linkage for unstable keratoconus patients. Material and methods: Thirty eyes of 15 patients with unstable keratoconus and myopia between 0.00 and 17.00 DS and astigmatism between 1:00 and 8:00 DS were analyzed in this prospective interventional study. The visual outcome was analyzed on the best possible refraction and topographic readings preoperative and post operative. Results: At 1-year follow-up, 45% had 20/20 vision or better and 100% had 20/40 or better uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA). Vector analysis of refractive astigmatism shows that the surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) (3.20 1.46 D) was not significantly different from the target induced astigmatism (TIA) (3.14, 1.42 D) (p=0.620). At 1 years postoperatively, none of the eyes showed a decrease in UCVA, in contrast to 24 eyes in which UCVA was increased by 1 lines, with contrast sensitivity and improvement in total aberrations and MTF value at 5 per degree (*p=0.004) after CXL surgery. The cumulative 1-year corneal endothelial cell loss was 5%. No patients reported dissatisfaction. At the end of followup, the vault was 658 + 54.33m (range, 500–711) and the intraocular pressure was 11.7 + 2.08 mm Hg. Occurrences of glare and night-driving troubles diminished after CXL surgery. Conclusion: The results of this prospective interventional study support corneal cross linkage for unstable keratoconus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]