Department of Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Department of Ophthalmology, Greenlane Clinical Centre, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand.
Clin Exp Optom. 2023 Aug;106(6):580-590. doi: 10.1080/08164622.2022.2159790. Epub 2023 Jan 23.
Corneal cross-linking is a photopolymerization technique traditionally used to strengthen corneal tissue. Corneal cross-linking utilizes riboflavin (vitamin B2) as a photosensitizer and ultraviolet-A light (UVA) to create strong covalent bonds within the corneal stroma, increasing tissue stiffness. Multiple studies have demonstrated corneal cross-linking's effectiveness in treating corneal ectasia, a progressive, degenerative, and non-inflammatory thinning disorder, as quantified by key tomographic, refractive, and visual parameters. Since its introduction two decades ago, corneal cross-linking has surpassed its original application in halting corneal ectatic disease and its application has expanded into several other areas. Corneal cross-linking also possesses antibacterial, antienzymolytic and antioedematous properties, and has since become a tool in treating microbial keratitis, correcting refractive error, preventing iatrogenic ectasia, stabilising bullous keratopathy and controlling post keratoplasty ametropia. This review provides an overview of the current evidence base for the therapeutic non-ectasia applications of cornea cross-linking and looks at future developments in the field.
角膜交联是一种光聚合技术，传统上用于增强角膜组织。角膜交联利用核黄素（维生素 B2）作为光增敏剂和紫外线-A 光（UVA）在角膜基质内产生强共价键，增加组织硬度。多项研究表明，角膜交联在治疗角膜扩张症方面的有效性，角膜扩张症是一种进行性、退行性和非炎症性的变薄疾病，其定量测量指标包括关键的断层扫描、屈光和视觉参数。自二十年前引入以来，角膜交联已经超越了其最初用于阻止角膜扩张性疾病的应用，其应用已经扩展到其他几个领域。角膜交联还具有抗菌、抗酶解和抗水肿的特性，因此已成为治疗微生物角膜炎、矫正屈光不正、预防医源性扩张、稳定大疱性角膜病变和控制角膜移植术后屈光不正的一种手段。本文综述了角膜交联在非扩张性疾病治疗中的应用的最新证据，并探讨了该领域的未来发展。
