Tuna ÇELİK BÜYÜKTEPE, Burcu KILIÇ, Ömür Ö. UÇAKHAN
Türk Oftalmoloji Dergisi - 2026;56(2):74-80
Objectives: To evaluate the visual, refractive, tomographic, and aberrometric outcomes of epithelial-island corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) treatment in halting progression in keratoconic eyes with thin corneas. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of consecutive patients with advanced keratoconus who had a thinnest corneal thickness (TCT) of <380 µm as measured by anterior segment optic coherence tomography and underwent epithelial-island CXL. Results: The study included 10 eyes of 9 patients with a median age of 29.5 (range, 17-51) years. The median postoperative follow-up time was 24.0 (12.0-108.0) months. The median preoperative TCT was 324.0 (232.0-380.0) µm. Preoperatively, the median CDV A was 1.00 (0.70-1.80) logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution, MR spherical equivalent was -18.00 (-25.00 to -6.00) diopters (D), maximum keratometry value was 84.75 (59.80-99.00) D, vertical coma was -1.068 (-6.428 to 0.613) D, and ECC was 2568 (2021-2750) cells/mm2. At postoperative year 1 and year 2, there were no statistically significant changes in any of these parameters (all p>0.05). No significant haze, endothelial cell loss, or any other clinically significant adverse event was encountered in any of the eyes. Conclusion: Epithelial-island CXL seems to be an effective alternative treatment modality in halting progression in keratoconic eyes with thin corneas. Further studies with a longer follow-up and a larger sample size would help to establish the long-term safety and efficacy of this treatment modality.
