Early epithelial complications of accelerated trans-epithelial corneal crosslinking in treatment of keratoconus: a case series.

Background: To report a case series of early postoperative complications following combined accelerated corneal crosslinking (CXL) and trans-epithelial technique in keratoconus.Case presentations: Eleven eyes underwent accelerated trans-epithelial CXL (18 mW/cm² for 5 min). Seven eyes (64%) developed complications in the first week postoperatively. Five eyes had large epithelial defects, and two eyes were complicated with diffuse punctate epithelial erosions. Early transient stromal haze was seen in eyes with epithelial complications. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography showed a faint demarcation line in six eyes (55%) with epithelial complications.Conclusion: A significant number of eyes developed epithelial complications shortly after combined accelerated trans-epithelial CXL, which defeated the benefits of leaving the epithelium intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]