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Corneal thickness decreases, recovers after cross-linking
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PHILADELPHIA — In patients with keratoconus, corneal thickness decreased 3 months after collagen cross-linking but recovered after 1 year, a speaker said at the Wills Eye Conference.
A retrospective review of patients with keratoconus and ectasia who had undergone corneal cross-linking looked at preoperative and postoperative characteristics using Scheimpflug imaging.
Thirty-four eyes with keratoconus and one eye with ectasia were followed up for at least 6 months, Nataliya Pokeza, MD, said.
Before treatment, corneal thickness averaged 457 µm, with a decrease to 440 µm at 3 months. At 6 months after treatment, there was a trend toward thickening, with an average of 447 µm.
Only 11 eyes were followed for a full year after treatment, but the corneal thickening and recovery trend continued to be observed, with an average difference in corneal thickness of 5 µm between pretreatment and 12-month measurements.
“At 1 year posttreatment, corneal thickness values are almost at pretreatment values,” Pokeza said. “It is important to know this trend since corneal thickness is one of the markers we look at when we follow patients with keratoconus.” – by Rebecca L. Forand
Reference:
Pokeza N. Corneal thickness changes after collagen crosslinking for keratoconus and corneal ectasia. Presented at: Wills Eye Conference; March 8 to 10, 2018; Philadelphia.
Disclosure: Pokeza reports no relevant financial disclosures.