The influence of corneal collagen cross-linking on anterior chamber in keratoconus

AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the corneal changes following corneal cross-linking (CXL) on the anterior chamber in keratoconus patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five eyes of 32 patients who had been diagnosed with progressive keratoconus and had undergone CXL were included in this retrospective study. The thinnest corneal thickness of the progressive keratoconus patients included in the study was >400 μ. The preoperative (T0), postoperative 6(th) month (T1), and postoperative 1(st) year (T2) anterior chamber volume (ACV), anterior chamber angle (ACA), and anterior chamber depth (ACD) scheimpflug imaging values were obtained for each eye. RESULTS: The mean T0 ACV value was 182.79 ± 36.68 mmwhile the T1 value was 201.25 ± 41.73 mm(3) and the T2 value was 208.40 ± 42.69 mm(3) with a statistically significant difference between the periods (P = 0.001). The mean T0 ACA value was 38.64° ±5.85°, increasing to 41.45° ±4.83° in the T1 and 42.10° ± 4.84° in the T2. The T0 value was significantly lower than the post-CXL values (P = 0.003). The mean ACD value was 3.73 ± 0.29 mm at the T0 and 3.82 ± 0.38 mm at the T1 and 3.84 ± 0.36 mm at the T2. The pre-CXL values were significantly lower than the post-CXL values (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The improvement of corneal parameters by CXL in keratoconus patients can have a positive effect on anterior chamber parameters as well. This effect becomes marked at the postoperative first 6-month evaluation.