Accelerated Crosslinking Protocols

Corneal cross-linking was in experimental setting introduced by Seiler and Spoerl in 1997 in Dresden and the first clinical pilot study was conducted and published by Wollensak et al. in 2003 also in Dresden [1, 2]. A standardized protocol that we refer to as a “Dresden protocol” involves abrasion of the corneal epithelium, followed by riboflavin application for 30 min as a photosensitizer and subsequent UVA illumination of 3 mW/cm2 of its intensity applied to a 9-mm zone in the cornea for another 30 min. This corresponds to a total energy dose of 3.4 J or a radiant exposure of 5.4 J/cm2 [3].