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Corneal collagen cross‐linking following superficial keratectomy as treatment for corneal endothelial cell dystrophy in dogs: Preliminary clinical study
Author(s) -
Kim Jury,
Ji DongBeom,
Takiyama Naoaki,
Bae Jaehyun,
Kim MinSu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
veterinary ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1463-5224
pISSN - 1463-5216
DOI - 10.1111/vop.12611
Subject(s) - ophthalmology , cornea , medicine , corneal collagen cross linking , dystrophy , keratoconus , edema , corneal opacity , bullous keratopathy , corneal dystrophy , surgery , pathology
Objective To describe the outcome of corneal collagen cross‐linking ( CXL ) combined with superficial keratectomy ( SK ) as treatment for corneal edema due to corneal endothelial dystrophy ( CED ) in dogs. Animals studied Four eyes of four dogs (3 Shih Tzus and 1 English Cocker Spaniel) with corneal edema due to CED were treated with SK and CXL . Two were males, and two were females. Procedure Depending on corneal thickness, 500‐700 μm of edematous cornea was removed by SK . Next, CXL was performed by irradiating the cornea with UVA (365 nm) at 3 mW/cm² irradiance for 30 min after soaking with 0.1% riboflavin in 20% dextran every three minutes for 30 minutes. One drop of riboflavin was instilled every three minutes during irradiation. Slit lamp biomicroscopy and optical coherence tomography were used to examine the cornea during the follow‐up period. Results The corneas had focal to diffuse edema, and the average corneal thickness was 1553 (1282‐1900) μm. All corneas showed a significantly reduced corneal thickness and regained marked transparency immediately after treatment; however, the opacity increased as the corneal thickness increased during the follow‐up period. Corneal vascularization (n = 4) disappeared within a month. Corneal pigmentation (n = 1) and bullae (n = 1) were observed. All cases showed marked reduction in corneal thickness; however, transparency was improved in only one case. Conclusion Collagen cross‐linking with SK has the potential to reduce the corneal thickness in CED cases; however, a lasting clinically significant improvement of corneal transparency seems unlikely. As the added benefit of CXL to the SK procedure is unclear based on the results of this study, combined treatment of CXL and SK for the treatment of corneal edema caused by CED is currently not recommended in dogs.