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Combined PRK, cross-linking continue to show good results for keratoconus
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ROME — Sequential partial PRK and cross-linking continue to show good results in the treatment of keratoconus, according to a surgeon who is successfully applying this combined procedure in a large number of cases.
At the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons winter meeting, John Kanellopoulos, MD, made two important points on the topic. First, he said that the adjunctive benefit of PRK is regularizing the cornea rather than correcting the refraction, and therefore PRK should be based on the topographic axis of the treatment.
"It is more like a [phototherapeutic keratectomy] procedure," he noted, "where the aim is that of obtaining a more regular cornea, to allow a better distribution of forces by the cross-linking procedure."
The second point was that corneas should be treated before they need this double procedure.
"If the disease is detected early, the cross-linking alone, without the ablation, can be sufficiently effective," Dr. Kanellopoulos said.
In Greece, children are now screened at school for early detection of keratoconus, he said.