VISUAL OUTCOME AND KERATOMETRIC CHANGES AFTER CORNEAL COLLAGEN CROSS-LINKING WITH RIBOFLAVIN AND ULTRAVIOLET-A FOR PATIENTS WITH KERATOCONUS IN KIRKUK CITY.

Corneal collagen cross-linking is advance technique use ultraviolet A with riboflavin (vitamin B2) to increase corneal stiffness. The aim of this study to evaluate visual outcome, keratometric reading and corneal topographic outcomes after corneal collagen cross-linking in a progressive keratoconus. A prospective study was conducted from March 2016 to March 2017, 44 eyes with progressive keratoconus were treated by photosensitizer and ultraviolet-A. Preoperative examination included uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity, slit lamp examination of the cornea and corneal topography. A soft bandaging contact lens was putting after complete the procedure. On the fifth day, we removing the contact lens and postoperative follow up was done every month for six months. Forty four eyes included in this study, 56.8% were male and 43.2% were female, age group was 15-30 years. After six months follow-up there were 17eyes exhibited improvement of uncorrected visual acuity by one line while 15 cases exhibited improvement by two or more line. Three eyes (6.8%) lost two or more lines of UCVA. In the majority of the cases (63.6%) keratometric reading was stable. This study revealed improvement in the visual results of the corneal collagen cross-linking and confirmed the safety and effectiveness of this procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]