Corneal crosslinking in septic melting corneal ulcers in dogs and cats

Abstract

Objective of research. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of corneal collagen cross-linking during melting corneal ulcers in dogs and cats. Describe changes in the properties and structure of the cornea during the entire observation period. Materials and methods. 15 animals were included in the study: 8 dogs and 7 cats that received preliminary treatment for underlying disease, but without positive dynamics. All animals had an infectious-inflammatory process in the cornea with signs of keratomalacia. All animals underwent mechanical diepithelization of cornea with simultaneous surface surgical treatment of pathological tissues. CXL procedure was performed under general anesthesia with preliminary saturation of corneal stroma with riboflavin solution for 30 minutes. Results. All animals showed a decrease in purulent-inflammatory process 3...5 days after CXL. Keratomalacia inhibition was noted on average by 2 ... 3 days after procedure. By 7th day of observation, stabilization of wound process and epithelization of defect were observed in 11 animals. In 4 animals, this process lasted up to 10...12 days. In 13 animals, we observed active corneal vascularization by the 14th day after CXL. In 2 animals, regeneration process was avascular. By 30th day of observation, 13 animals showed complete healing of corneal defect zone with formation of fibrosis and slight vascularization, of which 4 dogs had partial deposition of pigment in defect zone. And 1 cat on 15th day had a perforation of cornea with iris prolapse and subsequent evisceration. Conclusion. This study shows that CXL is effective in animals with infectious keratitis, accompanied by keratomalacia. These results allow us to offer CXL as an alternative to surgical methods of treatment. This method is safe for structures of eye while observing recommended protocols, which was confirmed in our work. However, given small number of patients, further research is required to select optimal combination treatment regimen.