Short-term comparison of accelerated and standard methods of corneal collagen crosslinking

PURPOSE: To compare the 6-month results of accelerated and standard collagen crosslinking (CXL) treatment of progressive keratoconus. SETTING: Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran. DESIGN: Prospective randomized clinical trial. METHODS: Two groups of eyes (intervention and control) received corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) treatment. The intervention group received accelerated CXL (18 mW/cm(2), 5 minutes), and the control group received standard CXL (3 mW/cm(2), 30 minutes). The eyes were evaluated for changes in the visual indices, refraction, and topography preoperatively and 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively and regarding corneal rigidity indices and the endothelial cell count (ECC) preoperatively and at 6 months. RESULTS: The study evaluated 62 eyes (31 patient) in 2 groups. The mean changes in uncorrected (P = .733) and corrected (P = .646) distance visual acuities and manifest refraction spherical equivalent (P = .598) did not differ statistically significantly between the 2 groups. The central corneal thickness was higher in the standard group than the accelerated group (P = .025). The mean decrease in the maximum keratometry (K) (P = .865) and mean K (P = .974) and the mean changes in the asphericity (P = .272) were not statistically significantly different between the 2 groups. The mean changes in corneal hysteresis (CH) (P = .548) and the corneal resistance factor (CRF) (P = 1.000), CH-CRF (P = .282), and the area under the peak 2 (P = .260) were similar in both groups. The mean decrease in the ECC was not statistically significantly different between the 2 groups (P = .218). CONCLUSION: Based on 6-month results, accelerated and standard corneal CXL arrested the progression of keratoconus similarly.