Six-Month Results of Multiple Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Corneal Allogeneic Ring Segments Implantation: A Case Series.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the short- and mid-term clinical outcomes of corneal allogeneic intrastromal ring segments (CAIRS) and assess their efficacy and safety in keratoconus treatment.

METHODS

Case series of 79 eyes from 71 patients with keratoconus who underwent femtosecond-assisted CAIRS implantation at the Adolphe de Rothschild Hospital Foundation, Noémie de Rothschild Institute. Preoperative and postoperative examinations were conducted at 3 and 6 months. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography and corneal tomography with aberrometric and pachymetric analyses were performed at each visit. Visual, refractive, and topographic parameters were extracted.

RESULTS

Corrected distance visual acuity improved by 1, 2, and 3 lines or more in 33%, 44%, and 52% of cases, respectively. Significant improvements were observed in K1, K2, Km, Kmax, topographic astigmatism, sphere, cylinder, spherical equivalent, total root mean square, higher-order aberrations, vertical coma, and spherical aberrations (all P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Eleven patients (13.9%) were dissatisfied with their outcomes. In addition, 9 patients (13.65%) experienced a loss in corrected distance visual acuity at 3 months postoperatively (6 eyes lost 1 line, and 3 lost 2 lines), yet remained satisfied with their results because of improved refraction and uncorrected vision.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the largest to date evaluating femtosecond-assisted CAIRS implantations and highlights CAIRS as a promising treatment for keratoconus.