Study of corneal backscatter by Scheimpflug imaging in patients with keratoconus treated with corneal Cross‐linking

Abstract

AbstractPurposeTo compare corneal densitometry obtained using Pentacam HR in the eyes of patients with keratoconus treated with corneal collagen cross‐linking (CXL) versus the eyes of healthy controls.MethodsAn observational case‐control study was carried out on 18 eyes of 15 patients with keratoconus treated with CXL (classical therapy), and 30 eyes of 15 healthy controls, in which ocular pathology had previously been ruled out. All patients underwent a Scheimpflug corneal tomography with Pentacam HR. For the analysis, the backscattering of light is measured in the anterior (120 µm) central and posterior (60 µm) corneal layers.ResultsThe group of patients treated with CXL therapy were 11 men and 4 women, the mean age was 28.06 years (range 17–44 years). In the CXL group the mean light scattering in the previous layer was 24.35 ± 1.074 (C: 21.6 ± 0.68 p > 0.05); central layer 14.68 ± 0.53 (C: 14.48 ± 0.41 p <0.05); posterior layer 10.75 ± 0.35 (C: 11.04 ± 0.36 p < 0.05) and full thickness 16.6 ± 0.62 (C: 15.71 ± 0.44 p < 0.05).ConclusionsThere are statistically significant differences in the densitometry values of the anterior layer of patients with keratoconus treated with CXL compared to healthy controls. We did not find statistically significant differences for the central, posterior and total variables.