The keratoconus stable monitoring clinic has been specially designed to reduce waiting times and improve the patient experience and care following a corneal cross-linking (CXL) procedure.
Evidence has shown that more than 90% of patients remain stable after CXL; however, to be certain of this, you will be monitored for a total of five years following your procedure.
The clinic is run by optical assistants who will complete all the required tests in a single appointment in much the same way as at your previous keratoconus monitoring appointments. Although you will not receive any results on the day, your data will be reviewed by a specialist optometrist after your appointment and you will receive a letter with your results within a few weeks.
At your appointment, you will have a vision test followed by a series of ocular scans. If your examination results are stable we will write to confirm this, including details of your next appointment. Although we will select a date/time for you, if this is not convenient you can change it by calling our administration team, the contact details will be included with your letter.
We will continue to monitor you in this clinic until approximately 5 years post-CXL. If, at this point your results continue to be stable as expected, we will discharge you back to the care of your community optometrist. If you are being seen by any other hospital eye services for other ocular conditions, this will continue as normal.
In the (very unlikely) event that any changes are detected following analysis of your results, we will contact you to come back and repeat some tests. At this appointment you will be seen by one of our clinicians who will discuss the results with you in person. Please keep in mind that CXL is generally very effective and that treatment failure is incredibly rare.
We will aim to have all your tests done within 30 minutes; however there may be a short wait before you are called through for your appointment.
It is very important that you bring any glasses with you to your appointment so that we can accurately measure your vision. As was the case with your previous appointments, it is important that you do not wear your rigid contact lenses for two weeks before your scans. For soft lenses, please allow one week without lens wear. If you are experiencing any difficulties with this, please call our administration team, the contact details will be included with your letter.
Please remember that we do not perform routine eye tests at these appointments and that you should continue to see your local optometrist every 1-2 years. Please also be aware that this imaging clinic is unable to assess any conditions other than keratoconus.
You can self-fund or use private medical insurance to fund your treatment.