[Keratoconus treatment by corneal cross-linking (CLX)].

Keratoconus is a disease of the cornea that usually begins during puberty and progressively weakens its biomechanical structure. Keratoconic eyes show a conic shape and progressive thinning, both leading to irregular astigmatism and reduced vision that cannot be corrected by glasses. In early cases, special contact lens can partly compensate for the visual loss while they do not stop disease progression. Until recently, the only treatment option was a corneal transplant. In 1999, a technique called corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) was used in human corneas suffering from keratoconus for the first time. CXL uses a process called photopolymerization to halt the progression of keratoconus with an efficacy of more than 95%. Today our challenge is to screen and identify patients early enough to offer a treatment on time before irreversible vision loss develops.