BLOG: What every eye doctor should know about collagen cross-linking

For nearly 15 years, collagen cross-linking of the cornea has been practiced in Europe, and its use in the U.S. has slowly grown through its availability at various study sites. To date, no treatment platform has yet been approved by the FDA. Some controversies have arisen in this field, but here I would like to present three truths that are fairly accepted across the cornea community.Cross-linking works. Across all studies, there seems to be agreement that collagen cross-linking, when properly performed, almost always halts the progression of ectatic disorders, including keratoconus and surgically or traumatically induced ectasia. The mechanism of action is by causing covalent bonds to form across layers of collagen in the cornea — a process that imitates but significantly accelerates age-related cross-linking.