Laser-induced corneal cross-linking upon photorefractive ablation with riboflavin.

Aim: To estimate the biomechanical effect of the laser-induced cross-linking resulting from photorefractive ablation of the cornea with riboflavin.

Methods: Excimer laser ablation studies were performed ex vivo (32 eyes of 16 rabbits) by phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and in vivo (24 eyes of 12 rabbits) by transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (TransPRK), with and without riboflavin saturation of the stroma. Then, we performed corneal optical coherence tomography on 36 eyes of 18 patients with varying degrees of myopia at different times after the TransPRK was performed with riboflavin saturation of the stroma.