Iontophoresis-assisted versus standard corneal crosslinking for progressive keratoconus

Keratoconus is a bilateral, asymmetrical, non-inflammatory, progressive disease, which induces a conical cornea and visual impairment because of biomechanical changes (1). Keratoplasty is an effective method for this ectatic corneal disorder, however, donor cornea is devoid seriously especially in Asia including China. Conservative treatment approaches could not prevent deterioration of the condition before the advent of corneal crosslinking (CXL). The Dresden team presented the first clinical report of CXL in 2003, which proved the effectiveness of the treatment in halting progressive keratoconus (2). Since then, more and more researches further demonstrated that CXL is an effective and minimally invasive procedure for treating keratoconus. Debridement of the central epithelium is necessary for the protocol of standard epithelium-off corneal crosslinking (S-CXL) to facilitate penetration of riboflavin into the stroma. But epithelial debridement results in many potential risks, such as corneal infection, Original Article