Progress of scleral cross-linking in the treatment of pathological myopia and glaucoma / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

Myopia is a common eye disease, and pathological myopia is mainly caused by abnormal axial elongation.The weakening of scleral biomechanics is one of the important characteristics of pathological myopia.In recent years, preventing the growth of the eyeball through strengthening the posterior sclera and improving the scleral stiffness has become a primary method to treat pathological myopia.Direct enhancement of scleral stiffness by scleral cross-linking is a new treatment under study, and the main methods of it include scleral collagen crosslinking induced by the photosensitizer riboflavin and ultraviolet-A irradiation, and induced by chemical reagent.People with myopia, especially high myopia, are more likely to suffer from primary open angle glaucoma.Glaucoma and myopia in the early stage are similar in clinical manifestations as well as the pathogenesis, which can promote and influence each other.There are some similarities in strengthening sclera, improving the scleral biomechanical properties, reducing axial elongation and scleral deformation in the treatment of the two diseases.Whether scleral cross-linking can be used as a new treatment of glaucoma and to reduce retinal ganglion cells damage has become a new research hotspot.In this article, the research progress in scleral cross-linking for the treatment of myopia and glaucoma were summarized, and the existing disputes were discussed in order to analyze the future of scleral cross-linking therapy.