Background/Objectives: To evaluate changes in corneal topography and densitometry (CD) 3 months after accelerated corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) for keratoconus and to investigate influencing factors. Methods: Twenty-one (41 eyes) patients with KC who underwent accelerated epithelium-off CXL were included in this retrospective observational study; preoperative and 3-month postoperative CD and corneal topographic parameters measured by Pentacam HR were collected. The changes in corneal topographic parameters and CD before and after CXL were subsequently compared, and the correlation between age, corneal topographic parameters and CD changes was analysed. Results: Except for TCT (p = 0.026), no significant changes were observed in topographic parameters (p > 0.05). There was a significant increase in total CD (tCD), CD 0–2 mm and CD 2–6 mm from the whole, anterior and central corneal layers after CXL compared to pre-operation (p < 0.05). The results of the correlating factors showed that age was positively associated with changes in tCD, CD 0–2 mm, and CD 2–6 mm from the whole, anterior and central corneal layer (p < 0.05), which was fully consistent with the regions treated by CXL. Other factors showed only marginal associations and were not consistent with the regions treated by CXL. Conclusions: An increase in CD can be observed in patients with KC at 3 months after undergoing accelerated CXL, and this is particularly focused on the 0–2 mm and 2–6 mm regions of the anterior and central corneal layers. The degree of change in CD was influenced by age, which may suggest differences in corneal response to CXL in KC of different ages.
Du et al. (Mon,) studied this question.