Accelerated corneal crosslinking in children with keratoconus: 5-year results and comparison of 2 protocols

Abstract

To evaluate long-term clinical results of 2 different accelerated corneal crosslinking (CXL) protocols in pediatric patients with keratoconus. Beyoğlu Eye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Retrospective case-control study. Patients who were younger than 18 years were included in the study. Group 1 received 4 minutes of illumination at 30 mW/cm, and Group 2 received 5 minutes of illumination at 18 mW/cm. Uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuities, manifest refraction, corneal topographic parameters, and corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) were evaluated at baseline and during 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow-up visits. A total of 143 eyes from 86 patients were included in the study. There were 30 eyes in Group 1 and 113 eyes in Group 2. The mean follow-up time was 4.15 ± 0.99 years. Mean keratometry (K) and/or maximum K progressed ≥1.00 diopter (D) in 7 eyes (23.3%) in Group 1 and 19 eyes (16.8%) in Group 2 (P = .411). Mean K and/or maximum K decreased ≥2.00 D in 2 eyes (6.7%) in Group 1 and 24 eyes (21.2%) in Group 2 (P = .06). In Group 1, there were no statistically significant differences in topographic parameters during follow-up. In Group 2, there was a statistically significant reduction in total HOA and coma during the 5-year visit when compared with the preoperative visit (P = .005 and P = .045, respectively). Accelerated CXL is beneficial in terms of halting the progression of keratoconus in pediatric patients throughout 5 years of follow-up examinations. An increased irradiance with a reduced application time reduces the topographic effects of CXL.