Study of Demarcation Line Depth in Transepithelial versus Epithelium-Off Accelerated Cross-Linking (AXL) in Keratoconus.

ABSTRACT: Aim:This is a prospective interventional clinical trial to assess the depth of the demarcation line in transepithelial versus epithelium-off accelerated corneal cross-linking (AXL) in keratoconus patients. Methods:This prospective clinical trial was conducted on 40 eyes of 20 patients. Each patient had transepithelial AXL in one eye and epithelium-off AXL in the contralateral eye applying UVA light with an irradiance of 45?mW/cm2 for 2.4 minutes and 30?mW/cm2 for 4 minutes. The depth of the demarcation line was measured using anterior segment OCT (Topcon 3D OCT-2000) one month postoperative for both eyes. Results:The demarcation line was patchy in 50% of the transepithelial AXL eyes, the other half showing a demarcation line at a mean depth of 183?±?41.6??m. In the epithelium-off AXL technique, the demarcation line was well defined in all cases with a mean depth of 219?±?27.3??m. There was a statistically significant difference in corneal demarcation line depth between transepithelial and epithelium-off techniques (P?=?0.008 and P?

SUBMITTER: Salah Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6791224 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature