AOA 2023: Uniting the OD and MD perspectives on keratoconus and crosslinking

Jonathan Etter, MD, FAAO, caught up with Optometry Times to tell us all about his presentation with Susan Gromacki, OD, MS, FAAO, FSLS, which united the OD and MD perspectives on keratoconus and collagen crosslinking.

Video transcript

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Good afternoon. My name is Jonathan Etter. I'm a cornea specialist in Maryland. I had the absolute pleasure of sharing the lecture podium with Dr. Susan Gromacki, and together we discussed an MD and OD perspective on keratoconus and collagen crosslinking.

Dr. Mackey did a wonderful job giving a complete overview of the diagnosis of keratoconus, as well as visual restoration techniques for keratoconus after crosslinking. And it was my role in the discussion to explain the role of crosslinking in the modern keratoconus paradigm and to discuss the procedure in general.

We find ourselves at an amazing time, generally speaking, with regards to the condition of keratoconus, in that we finally have a treatment that stops the progression. Collagen crosslinking is an outpatient procedure that a patient can have in an office-based setting that takes a little over an hour at this point, and their disease process can be completely halted. This is much different than in previous years when we really didn't have an effective prevention or treatment for keratoconus, and we had to rely on keratoplasty.

So, today with modern crosslinking techniques, which we discussed during today's lecture, as well as advanced vision correcting techniques, such as advanced technology contact lenses, we can completely solve this disease. It's a very exciting time, and I was extremely happy to be a part of today's events.