PHOTOREFRACTIVE KERATECTOMY WITH COLLAGEN CROSS LINKING IN SUSPICIOUS AND EARLY KERATOCONUS

Purpose: To study the efficacy and safety of PRK and corneal cross linking (CXL) For treatment of suspicious and early Keratoconus. Methods: fifty eyes of thirty two patients with suspicious and early keratoconus were included. all patient underwent Simultaneous PRK and corneal cross linking (CXL) The outcomes were evaluated at 18 months in all eyes. Result: 80 % percent of UNCVA postoperatively are equal to preoperatively BCVA or gained 1 or more lines 20 % only Lost 1 line, 62 % of the eyes are within 1.0D. of emmetropia. None of the eyes had > 2.0 D and 54 % of the eyes had Astigmatism by K-Reading within 1.0D. None of the eyes had > 2.0D. Conclusion: We concluded that The Combined non-topography–guided PRK and CXL is an effective procedures for correcting mild refractive error and improving visual acuity and safety option for arresting the ectatic progression, with improvement of corneal keratometric values in patients with suspicious and early keratoconus provided that we adhere to the selection criteria of that we recommend. However, future studies with larger cohorts of patients and longer follow-up periods are needed to determine the safety, efficacy, and stability of such procedure.