Clinical experience
Today, several thousand eyes have been cross-linked world wide and follow-ups of more than 10 years are available.
Clinical studies in larger cohorts of patients have shown a significant increase in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in more than 85% of the treated eyes.
Six months after corneal cross-linking, the refractive cylinder is reduced in over 80% of the eyes. Consequently corneal cross-linking induces a restoring biomechanical force upon the deformed corneal shape.
Gain of lines after corneal cross-linking found in more than 50% of the eyes.
The steepest K-value is usually decreased by 1 Diopter and the percentage of eyes that had a clinical relevant reduction exceeds 86%.
An increase of one to two lines was observed between 9 to 30 months after the treatment. Increases of up to three to four lines were observed from 30 to 60 months.
Example: Topography of a keratoconus eye before (left) and 4 months after (right) corneal cross-linking. A significantly smoother corneal surface was observed.
A large number of studies are currently under way or have alredy been performed using the IROC UV-XTM device.
Selected publications on corneal cross linking
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Spoerl E, Huhle M, Kasper M, Seiler T: Artificial stiffening of the cornea by induction of intrastromal cross-links. Der Ophthalmologe 94 (1997), p. 902-906
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Spoerl E, Huhle M, Seiler T: Induction of cross-links in corneal tissue. Exp. Eye Res. 66 (1998), p. 97-103
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Spoerl E, Seiler T: Techniques for stiffening the cornea. J. Refract. Surg. 15 (1999), p. 711-713
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Kanellopoulos, AJ; Binder, PS. Collagen cross-linking (CCL) with sequential topography-guided PRK: a temporizing alternative for keratoconus to penetrating keratoplasty. Cornea, 2007 Aug, 26(7):891-5
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Wollensak, G. Crosslinking treatment of progressive keratoconus: new hope. Current opinion in ophthalmology, 2006 Aug, 17(4):356-60
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Kohlhaas, M; Spoerl, E; Schilde, T; Unger, G; Wittig, C; Pillunat, LE. Biomechanical evidence of the distribution of cross-links in corneas treated with riboflavin and ultraviolet A light. Journal of cataract and refractive surgery, 2006 Feb, 32(2):279-83
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Kohlhaas, M; Spoerl, E; Speck, A; Schilde, T; Sandner, D; Pillunat, LE. A new treatment of keratectasia after LASIK by using collagen with riboflavin/UVA light cross-linking. Klinische Monatsblatter fur Augenheilkunde, 2005 May, 222(5):430-6
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Wollensak, G; Spörl, E; Seiler, T. Treatment of keratoconus by collagen cross linking. Der Ophthalmologe : Zeitschrift der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft, 2003 Jan, 100(1):44-9