Pediatric Corneal Cross-Linking



Fig. 21.1
The Geneva protocol for corneal cross-linking (CXL) in pediatric patients





21.4 Patient Comfort Versus CXL Efficacy


Recently, new and less invasive protocols for CXL treatment have been proposed. Accelerated CXL uses higher irradiances (9 or 18 mW/cm2) and is applied to reduce the irradiation time (10 or 5 min, respectively). Transepithelial CXL [17] does not require de-epithelialization due to the aggregation of benzalconium chloride or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to the riboflavin solution. Additionally, the riboflavin diffusion speed into the corneal stroma can be increased by iontophoresis [18]. Transepithelial treatment is less painful and increases the speed of postoperative wound healing. There are several studies that suggest accelerated CXL [19, 20], transepithelial CXL without [21, 22] or with iontophoresis [23] is effective in pediatric patients. Others in contrast reported that transepithelial CXL did not stop pediatric keratoconus progression [24]. There is ongoing research performed to develop faster and more comfortable treatment protocols. However, current laboratory studies suggest that standard CXL is most effective in terms of biomechanical stiffness increase [15]. Therefore, the authors suggest to use the Geneva protocol as a tool in the decision-making process for cross-linking procedures.


Compliance with Ethical Requirements

Farhad Hafezi is co-founder of the Light for Sight Foundation. Sabine Kling has no conflict of interest. No human or animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.


References



1.

Butrus SI, Tabbara KF. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis and keratoconus. Am J Ophthalmol. 1983;95:704–5.CrossRefPubMed


2.

Karseras A, Ruben M. Aetiology of keratoconus. Br J Ophthalmol. 1976;60:522–5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral


3.

Malik NS, Moss SJ, Ahmed N, Furth AJ, Wall RS, Meek KM. Ageing of the human corneal stroma: structural and biochemical changes. Biochim Biophys Acta (BBA) Mol Basis Dis. 1992;1138:222–8.CrossRef


4.

Patel H, Ormonde S, Brookes N, Moffatt L, Mcghee C. The indications and outcome of paediatric corneal transplantation in New Zealand: 1991–2003. Br J Ophthalmol. 2005;89:404–8.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral


5.

Wollensak G, Spörl E, Seiler T. Treatment of keratoconus by collagen cross linking. Ophthalmologe: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft. 2003;100:44–9.CrossRef

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Jul 20, 2017 | Posted by in OPHTHALMOLOGY | Comments Off on Pediatric Corneal Cross-Linking

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