New techniques to improve classical corneal collagen cross-linking treatment.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this review is to comprehensively and unbiasedly summarize the improvements in the techniques for classical corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) by covering the reasons for this improvement, measure, and effect to approach the future direction of the CXL.


METHODS
All articles used in this review were mainly retrieved from the PubMed database.


METHODS
Original articles and reviews were selected if they were related to the improvement in the technique of classical CXL. Data were mainly extracted from 94 articles, which are listed in the reference section of this review.


RESULTS
This innovative research involves every step such as instrument preparation, epithelial management, riboflavin instillation, and UVA irradiation. These clinical and experimental results seem promising.


CONCLUSIONS
CXL treatment is the only recent promising method for preventing the progress of keratoconus. The limitations and potential complications that accompany classical CXL such as corneal thickness limitations, ultraviolet-A (UVA) light injury, and the impact of de-epithelialization encourage people to research new improvements in techniques. While this research needs to be further investigated, we hope our review can help related researchers and patients.
Department of Ophthalmology, Navy General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
Na
N
Li
Department of Ophthalmology, Navy General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China. Email: pxj1@vip.sina.com.
Xiujun
X
Peng
Department of Ophthalmology, Navy General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
Zhengjun
Z
Fan
Department of Ophthalmology, Navy General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
Yu
Y
Xia
Department of Ophthalmology, Navy General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
Tengfei
T
Wu
D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism*; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D003094:Collagen