Our case involves a 19-year-old patient with forme fruste keratoconus. Small-incision lenticule extraction was performed, and 6.5 months after surgery, corneal ectasia was diagnosed. Preoperatively, the minimum central corneal thickness was 546 μm in the right eye and 542 μm in the left eye; the refractive correction was -6.75 -1.00 × 45 and -6.75 -0.75 × 140, respectively; the lenticular thickness was 137 μm and 135 μm, respectively. At 6.5 months, ectasia was diagnosed based on anterior and posterior surface keratometry of 38.4/39.5 diopters (D) and -6.3/-6.8 D, respectively, in the right eye and 38.6/40.8 D and -7.1/-6.6 D, respectively, in the left eye. The keratometry increased gradually and the corneal thickness decreased after surgery, and these trends continued during the 13-month follow-up. This report documents corneal ectasia as a complication of small-incision lenticule extraction and highlights the importance of preoperative evaluation and the need for long-term follow-up.
BackgroundCorneal ectasia after small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) is uncommon. To our knowledge, this is the first report of 3-year results of combined phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) for corneal ectasia after SMILE.Case presentationHerein, we describe a case of prominent corneal ectasia after SMILE treated with PTK combined with CXL 3 years ago. After surgery, maximum corneal keratometry, mean corneal keratometry, spherical equivalent and uncorrected distance visual acuity were significantly improved at follow-up intervals.ConclusionsTransepithelial PTK combined with CXL for corneal ectasia after SMILE may be an effective and safe treatment in the long term.
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