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Surgeon laments limited availability of cross-linking in US
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NEW YORK — Although UV-riboflavin collagen cross-linking is currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States, one surgeon expressed dissatisfaction that the procedure still lacks U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for treating corneal disorders such as ectasia.
"As a personal editorial, I will comment and say it is completely unacceptable that we do not have this technology available in the United States," Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, said during a presentation on cross-linking here at OSN New York 2010.
"There is a company now that is continuing with trials, but every other country in the world has this ... and I don't think it's reasonable to allow 16- and 17-year-old children to progress to needing a corneal transplant when we have a proven technology that is available," he said.
In addition to treating ectasia, Dr. Donnenfeld said, cross-linking may also have a number of corneal applications including but not limited to treating corneal scarring, bullous keratopathy, radial keratotomy, PRK or LASIK prophylaxis, and lamellar keratoplasty.
"I think collagen cross-linking is a technology that has arrived, and something that we really need to expedite to get into the right hands to treat our patients who really need this technology," he said.