Corneal surface changes after cross-linking in patients of keratoconus

Objectives To evaluate the outcome of the corneal cross-linking procedure regarding their effect on morphological and optical properties of the cornea. Background Cross-linking using ultraviolet A light and riboflavin is a method to stop the progression of keratoconus. The orbscan system has the ability to yield corneal thickness, curvature, and elevation data. Patients and methods The study was carried out on 40 eyes of 30 patients, with a mean age 22.55 ± 3.15 years. All underwent corneal cross-linking.Uncorrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity were assessed. Orbscan's Kmax, thickness at thinnest corneal point and at the center of the cornea, irregularity at 3 and at 5 mm optical zone and topographic astigmatism, were all determined before cross-linking and 6 months after. Results There was improvement of uncorrected visual acuity from 0.21 ± 0.09 to 0.23 ± 0.08 and best-corrected visual acuity from 0.62 ± 0.13 to 0.72 ± 0.10 after 6 months (P Conclusion Patients with progressive keratoconus appear to have improvements in most of the anterior surface topographic measures.