Background: Non-inflammatory corneal thinning and steepening are hallmarks of keratoconus (KC), which affects both eyes. The causes of KC are several. If left unchecked, keratoconus typically worsens until the third or fourth decade of life, when it stops growing. The disease may begin later in life and progress or be halted at any point in time. It is possible that it is congenital. To improve corneal tissue's mechanical and chemical stability, corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) was developed.
Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the high-order aberrations in patients with early keratoconus before and after cross-linking.
Patients and Methods: From March 2021 to September 2021, 40 eyes that match the inclusion criteria for CXL have been studied in the current prospective comparison study. The study conducted at Nour El Hayah Eye Hospital Cairo Egypt.
Results: Preoperative and 6-month examinations showed statistically significant improvements in uncorrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity (P0.001). At six months, there had been a 25 % and an 18 % reduction in total HIGHER ORDER ABERRATIONS (HOAs) and comas, respectively. Spherical aberration was reduced by 8.71 percent (P 0.001), showing significant improvement, Trefoil and high-order astigmatism (P=0.405 and 0.329, respectively) showed no significant difference. Preoperative values and 6-month values showed statistically significant differences in apical average (K) values (P=0.05).
Conclusion: Spherical aberrations, HOAs, and coma diminished with CXL. The improvement in visual function and coma are directly linked.