Corneal cross-linking treatment in pediatric keratoconus patients

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of collagen cross-linking treatment in keratoconus progression in pediatric age group with keratoconus. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two eyes of 41 patients under the age of 16 diagnosed with keratoconus were included in the study. Preoperative and postoperative 1st month, 3rd month, 6th month, 12th month, 18th month and 24th month, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), spherical and cylindrical values, flat measured on corneal topography (K1), steep (K2) and mean (Kmax) simulated keratometric values, the thinnest corneal thickness (TCT) and central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD) and topographic astigmatism values were recorded. Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 13.8 ± 2.0 (9-16) years. 22 (53.7%) of the patients were male and 19 (46.3%) were female. While a decrease was observed in the UCVA and BCVA values of the patients at the first month after surgery, a statistically significant increase was observed after the 6th month. No significant change in spherical values was observed. Decrease in cylindrical measurements was observed in all follow-ups after surgery, this decrease gained significance in the 12th and 24th month follow-up. Topographic K1 measurement increased in the 1st month postoperatively, from the 2nd month, it decreased significantly in all follow-ups. K2 and Kmax values increased in the first month after surgery, it started to decrease in the 3rd month, the decrease was statistically significant in all follow-ups after 6 months. CCT and TCT measurements decreased significantly until 24th postoperatively, in the 24th month, these values approached the initial values. No significant change was observed in any of the follow-up assessments of the ACD and astigmatism. Conclusion: Keratoconus, in which severe vision loss at an early age can be seen, collagen cross-linking treatment can be applied with topical anesthesia with relatively less side effects. While there was an increase in visual acuity and the diasease progression was halted. Key Words: Cornea, cross-linking, keratoconus, keratoconus progression