Evaluation of Corneal Stromal Demarcation Line after Two Different Protocols of Accelerated Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking Procedures Using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography and Confocal Microscopy

Abstract EN

Purpose.

To evaluate the depth of corneal stromal demarcation line using AS-OCT and confocal microscopy after two different protocols of accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking procedures (CXL).

Methods.

Patients with keratoconus were divided into two groups.

Peschke CXL device (Peschke CCL-VARIO Meditrade GmbH) applied UVA light with an intended irradiance of 18.0 mW/cm2 for 5 minutes after applying riboflavin for 20 minutes (group 1) and 30 minutes (group 2).

One month postoperatively, corneal stromal demarcation line was measured using AS-OCT and confocal microscopy.

Results.

This study enrolled 34 eyes of 34 patients (17 eyes in group 1 and 17 eyes in group 2).

The mean depth of the corneal stromal demarcation line was 208.64 ± 18.41 μm in group 1 and 240.37 ± 18.89 μm in group 2 measured with AS OCT, while it was 210.29 ± 18.66 μm in group 1 and 239.37 ± 20.07 μm in group 2 measured with confocal microscopy.

Corneal stromal demarcation line depth measured with AS OCT or confocal microscopy was significantly deeper in group 2 than group 1 ( P < 0.01 ) .

Conclusion.

The group in which riboflavin was applied for 30 minutes showed significantly deeper corneal stromal demarcation line than the group in which riboflavin was applied for 20 minutes.