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Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of customized corneal crosslinking (CXL) for treatment of progressive keratoconus (KC) using a transepithelial approach with supplemental oxygen. Setting: Siena Crosslinking Center, Siena, Italy. Design: Prospective interventional case series. Methods: Twenty-seven eyes of 24 patients (mean age 29.3 +/- 7.3 years) with progressive KC underwent customized corneal CXL using a transepithelial approach with supplemental oxygen. Ultraviolet (UV)-A irradiation of 365 nm wavelength was delivered in an accelerated (30 mW/cm2) pulsed-light UV light exposure in a 2-zone elliptical pattern. A total dose of 10 J/cm2 was delivered at the KC apex, surrounded by a broadbeam spot of 7.2 J/cm2. After 0.25% riboflavin corneal soaking, the UV-A irradiation was initiated in the presence of additional oxygen (>=90% concentration) delivered through special goggles connected to an oxygen delivery system (flow-rate 2.5 liters per minute). Key outcome measures included corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), keratometry (AK, K1, K2, and K-average), corneal higher-order aberrations, topographic and manifest cylinder, corneal optical coherence tomography (OCT) demarcation line, and endothelial cell count. Results: Of the 27 eyes studied, a significant improvement of CDVA was recorded at 6-month follow-up visits, from baseline 0.19 +/- 0.06 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) to 0.11 +/- 0.04 logMAR (P <.05). Significant flattening of steep keratometry (K2) was reported with mean change of -1.9 diopters (D) (P <.05), and coma values improved from 0.47 +/- 0.28 [micro]m to 0.28 +/- 0.16 [micro]m (P <.05). OCT revealed 2 demarcation lines at mean depths of 218.23 +/- 43.32 [micro]m and 325.71 +/- 39.70 [micro]m. Conclusions: In this series, customized CXL using a transepithelial approach with intraoperative supplemental oxygen resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in corneal curvature and CDVA without significant adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To assess the clinical and microstructural results of accelerated 15 mW pulsed-light corneal crosslinking (CXL) to treat progressive keratoconus. Setting Siena Crosslinking Center, Siena, Italy. Design Prospective case series. Methods After epithelium removal (with Epi-Clear) and 10 minutes stromal soaking with riboflavin 0.1% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose solution, all eyes had 15 mW/cm 2 pulsed-light epithelium-off accelerated CXL for 6 minutes of ultraviolet-A (UVA) irradiation (1 second on/1 second off), maintaining a total UVA exposure of 12 minutes at a fluence of 5.4 J/cm 2 . The 2-year follow-up examination included uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected (CDVA) distance visual acuities, Scheimpflug tomography, in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM), and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Results The study comprised 132 eyes of 96 patients (mean age 23.7 years ± 4.3 [SD]) with stage II keratoconus. The change in UDVA and CDVA was statistically significant, from 0.51 ± 0.106 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) at baseline to 0.309 ± 0.074 logMAR ( P = .0001) and 0.271 ± 0.144 logMAR at baseline to 0.135 ± 0.100 logMAR ( P = .0023), respectively. Coma values measured by Scheimpflug analysis showed a statistically significant improvement beginning with the first postoperative month ( P = .0004). The IVCM scans documented basal epithelial healing occurring 72 hours after treatment associated with the presence of subepithelial nerves. The SD-OCT scans performed in the central 6.0 mm of corneal diameter documented a demarcation line at a mean depth of 280 ± 32 μm. Conclusion The 15 mW/cm 2 pulsed-light epithelium-off accelerated CXL was effective and safe, stabilizing keratoconus progression through 2 years of follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the 3-year clinical results of the 18 mW 7 J/cm2 transepithelial enhanced fluence pulsed light M accelerated crosslinking in the treatment of progressive keratoconus (KC) with chemically enhanced hyper-concentrated riboflavin solutions without iontophoresis and with air-room oxygenation. Setting: Siena Crosslinking Center, Siena, Italy. Methods: Prospective pilot, open non-randomized interventional study including 40 eyes of 30 young adult patients over 21 years old (10 simultaneous bilateral) with early (Stage I and II) progressive KC undergoing TE-EFPL 18 mW/7 J/cm2 ACXL (EFPL M TECXL). The 12 min and 58 s pulsed light (1 s on/1 s off) UV-A exposure treatments were performed with a biphasic corneal soaking using Paracel I 0.25% for 4 min and Paracel II 0.22% for 6 min riboflavin solutions and New KXL I UV-A emitter (Glaukos-Avedro, Waltham, USA) at an air room of 21% oxygenation. All patients completed the 3-year follow-up. Results: CDVA showed a statistically significant improvement in the third postoperative month (Δ + 0.17 d. e.) with a final gain of +0.22 d. eq. AK showed a statistically significant decrease in the sixth postoperative month (Δ − 1.15 diopters). K itmax showed a statistically significant decrease at 1-year follow-up (Δ − 1.3 diopters). The coma value improved significantly by the sixth month (Δ − 0.54 µm). MCT remained stable during the entire follow-up. No adverse events were recorded. Corneal OCT revealed a mean demarcation line depth at 282.6 ± 23.6 μm. Conclusions: Transepithelial enhanced fluence pulsed light M accelerated crosslinking with chemically enhanced riboflavin solution halted KC progression in young adult patients without iontophoresis and no intraoperative oxygen supplementation addressing the importance of increased fluence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate frequency, conversion rate, and risk factors for blindness in glaucoma patients treated in European Universities. Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included 2402 consecutive patients with glaucoma in at least one eye. Medical charts were inspected and patients were divided into those blind and the remainder (‘controls’). Blindness was defined as visual acuity≤0.05 and/or visual field loss to less than 10°. Results: Unilateral and bilateral blindness were respectively 11.0% and 1.6% at the beginning, and 15.5% and 3.6% at the end of the observation period (7.5±5.5 years, range:1–25 years); conversion to blindness (at least unilateral) was 1.1%/year. 134 eyes (97 patients) developed blindness by POAG during the study. At the first access to study centre, they had mean deviation (MD) of -17.1±8.3 dB and treated intraocular pressure (IOP) of 17.1±6.6 mmHg. During follow-up the IOP decreased by 14% in these eyes but MD deteriorated by 1.1±3.5 dB/year, which was 5-fold higher than controls (0.2±1.6 dB/year). In a multivariate model, the best predictors for blindness by glaucoma were initial MD (p<0.001), initial IOP (p<0.001), older age at the beginning of follow-up (p<0.001), whereas final IOP was found to be protective (p<0.05). Conclusions: In this series of patients, blindness occurred in about 20%. Blindness by glaucoma had 2 characteristics: late diagnosis and/or late referral, and progression of the disease despite in most cases IOP was within the range of normality and target IOP was achieved; it could be predicted by high initial MD, high initial IOP, and old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]