Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking with and without Epithelial Removal: A Contralateral Study with 0.5% Hypotonic Riboflavin Solution

Table 3

Changes in visual acuity and refraction during 12-month follow-up.

Parameter	CXL	Preoperative	1 m	6 m	12 m
UDVA (lgMAR)	Epithelium-on	0.77 ± 0.39	0.62 ± 0.36*	0.54 ± 0.37*	0.62 ± 0.37*
	Epithelium-off	0.67 ± 0.44	0.62 ± 0.45	0.54 ± 0.43*	0.50 ± 0.44*
	𝑃 value	0.394	0.962	0.991	0.289
CDVA (lgMAR)	Epithelium-on	0.20 ± 0.19	0.11 ± 0.14*	0.06 ± 0.12*	0.02 ± 0.89*
	Epithelium-off	0.16 ± 0.13	0.13 ± 0.18	0.09 ± 0.15*	0.05 ± 0.12*
	𝑃 value	0.402	0.633	0.424	0.239
SE (D)	Epithelium-on	−1.58 ± 3.00	−1.32 ± 2.97	−1.97 ± 3.10	−1.73 ± 2.66
	Epithelium-off	−1.81 ± 2.48	−2.06 ± 3.39	−1.61 ± 2.24	−1.68 ± 2.32
	𝑃 value	0.746	0.436	0.619	0.945
Cylinder (D)	Epithelium-on	−3.19 ± 2.49	−2.58 ± 2.11	−2.64 ± 2.35	−2.66 ± 2.34
	Epithelium-off	−3.54 ± 2.10	−3.26 ± 2.07	−3.09 ± 2.33	−2.79 ± 2.25
	𝑃 value	0.543	0.167	0.453	0.852

∗The difference between pre- and postoperative data was statistically significant (𝑃<0.05).