Keratoconus, besides being a progressive disease, also stands out as a disease that will directly affect vision. Since the shape of the cornea continues to deteriorate gradually in the disease, deterioration in vision may also increase. We also know that there are some treatments applied to both improve vision and stop the progression. Corneal collagen cross-linking CXL method is one of these treatments. So, does this treatment, which we know as crosslinking, improve vision? Is it only a method to prevent progression? Let’s try to answer this question through scientific research.
Does the Crosslink Method Increase Vision in Keratoconus Patients?
In the scientific research published on Pubmed, keratoconus patients with CXL were evaluated. The results obtained according to the evaluation were as follows.
- In the evaluations made 3 months after the application, only 1 or 2 lines or no improvement in visual acuity was observed.
- In the first 3 months, endothelial cell density decreased by 225 cells per square millimetre, but then returned to its previous state.
- Corneal thickness decreased by 10-20 µm in the first year after CXL, but no change was observed after 24 months.
Conclusion;
All these results show that Crosslink treatment for keratoconus patients is not a treatment that promises to increase vision. The method is more of a method applied to stop the progression of keratoconus. Even if it is very mild, there is a possibility to show an improvement in visual function. However, it should be said that it does not promise such a thing.
Source
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26751990/
