Posters

Contact lens-assisted collagen cross-linking (CACXL) used for thin corneas

Poster Details

First Author: A.Almeida BRAZIL

Co Author(s):    M. Dias   B. Souza   F. Alves   G. Landim   E. Feijó   A. Bittencourt     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of contact lens-assisted collagen cross-Linking (CACXL) in eyes with thin corneas which the conventional cross-linkg could not be done.

Setting:

Department of Cornea, Ophthalmology Hospital of Anápolis, Anápolis, Goiás, Brazil.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study analyzed data of 09 eyes who underwent CACXL with diagnosis of progressive ectasia with a minimum corneal thickness less than 400 µm after epithelial abrasion. The iso-somolar riboflavin 0.1% in dextran was applied every 3 minutes for 30 minutes after epithelial abrasion. A soft contact lens (0.09-mm thickness, 14-mm diameter) without an ultraviolet filter soaked in riboflavin for 30 minutes was placed on the corneal surface. The cornea was exposed to ultraviolet-A irradiation with instillation of riboflavin. The minimum follow-up was one year with Pentacam (Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany) and specular microscopy (Nidek CEM-530, Japan).

Results:

All of patients were females with a mean age of 17.22 years (SD 4.68 years). The study showed that there was keratoconus stabilization at 88.89% of eyes and 11.11% the keratoconus continued to progress. Eight eyes (88.89%) (IC 95: 69-100%) had a normal specular microscopy after CACXL and one eye (11.11%) (IC 95: 0-30%) had a specular microscopy with polymegatism, but without pleomorphism and with preserved cell density.

Conclusions:

CACXL showed to be an effective technique and safe in thin corneas. The main limitation of this study was a small sample, as CACXL is not yet a widely performed procedure. Other studies are necessary to corroborate these findings.

Financial Disclosure:

None