A 6-month follow-up for patients who underwent Accelerated Epi-on Collagen Crosslinking.

Abstract

Purpose: Accelerated Collagen Crosslinking (A-CXL) is widely used worldwide as an effective treatment for keratoconus due to its efficiency and rapidity. This paper aims to identify relevant changes in visual acuity parameters and topographic measurements before and six months after treatment.

Methods: A total of 30 eyes from 20 patients who underwent A-CXL between May 2021 and June 2023 and had at least six months of follow-up were analyzed retrospectively. Comparisons between uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, spherical and cylinder diopters, and topographic measurements like Kmax, SIf, SIb, KVf, KVb, BCVf, BCVb, TCT, and CCT were made before and six months after surgery.

Results: After the accelerated Collagen crosslinking (A-CXL), BCVA improved, cylinder diopters and Kmax values were reduced, and central corneal thickness (CCT) and thinnest corneal thickness (TCT) were elevated.

Discussion: The study has shown results comparable with other studies regarding the heterogeneity of the group study, good outcomes in measuring the corneal central thickness and thinnest corneal thickness, and good evolution of the refraction and visual acuity. Regarding the specific topography markers, like SIf/SIb, KVf/KVb, BCVf/BCVb, and K_max, minor differences were observed at 6 months follow-up and were not considered statistically relevant. Other studies show a better correlation at 1-year check-ups and similar results at 6-month follow-ups.

Conclusion: This method's main benefits are its brief duration and minimum intrusion, improvement of visual acuity, and the possibility of reintervention for better outcomes.