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Combined intracorneal ring segment insertion, corneal collagen cross-linking safe
Br J Ophthalmol. 2011;95(1):37-41.
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Combining intracorneal ring segment insertion with corneal collagen cross-linking in one or two separate surgeries appears safe, a study found.
The prospective, comparative study consisted of 16 eyes of 10 patients with mild to moderate keratoconus. Patients were divided into two groups; nine eyes underwent insertion of a Keraring ICRS (Mediphacos) followed by corneal collagen cross-linking 6 months later and seven eyes underwent both procedures on the same day.
Both groups experienced statistically significant improvements in uncorrected distance visual acuity and corrected distance visual acuity, as well as significant reductions in refractive error and keratometric values (P < .05), according to the study.
The investigators found no statistically significant visual differences between the two groups; however, eyes that underwent both procedures on the same day showed an increased reduction of keratometric values at 6 months postop (P = .046).
The study authors speculated this additional improvement in the concurrent group may have been caused by more pooling of riboflavin as a result of the newly dissected corneal channel. This, in turn, may have exaggerated the flattening effect of corneal collagen cross-linking.
"Based on these findings, a combination of intracorneal rings and [corneal collagen cross-linking] procedures lead to a synergistic flattening effect in patients with keratoconus," the study authors said.