About this Research Topic

Background

The human cornea is the transparent and avascular structure at the front of the eye. It provides most of the refractive power to focus light rays on the retina. On the one hand, any factors that affect its transparency and its regular structure will lead to a loss of visual acuity, such as infectious keratitis, dry eye, keratoconus, Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy; the corresponding treatments include different antibiotics, artificial tears, corneal cross-linking, and keratoplasty. On the other hand, while the cornea contributes most of the eye's focusing power, applying the laser, known as corneal refractive surgery, to reshape the cornea and correspondingly change the corneal refraction power is another way to correct the refractive error besides spectacles. Different laser platforms have developed to improve the surgery quality.

Currently, existing treatment options for the corneal disease are facing challenges. The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of antibiotics, corneal fungal and amoebic infections still lack effective treatment, while the development of new antibiotics, photochemotherapy, antifungal and amoebic drugs are improving this situation. Artificial tear is usually prescribed for dry eye patients, however, its usually difficult to relieve the symptoms of severe dry eye patients, as the research on dry eye has advanced, the development and application of tear film-oriented therapy is indicated. Corneal cross-linking is now the only method to halt the progression of keratoconus and ectasia diseases. While different chromophores and related irradiation protocols have been established, focus is still needed to safely and effectively treat thin corneas and obtain longer stable biomechanical properties. For corneal refractive surgery, although different laser platforms are keeping developed, the complications are still occurred. Therefore, the perioperative medication needs to be continuously investigated to decrease the occurrences of complication, get a better post-operative experience and visual quality. Keratoplasty is considered to be the ultimate solution for severe corneal diseases, any pharmaceutical products that facilitates the entire process of keratoplasty is meaningful.

The scope of this Research Topic mainly includes the development of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of corneal diseases and the updating of the medication regimen for any type of corneal surgery. The specific research scope includes but is not limited to:

1) The development of drug products and treatment method for infectious keratitis treatment
2) Corneal ectasia disease treatment: corneal cross-linking
3) Corneal refractive surgery: PRK/TransPRK, LASIK, SMILE, and etc.
4) Keratoplasty: PKP, DSAEK, DMEK, and etc.
5) Medications for dry eye
6) Related research on contact lenses for the treatment of corneal diseases

The types of manuscripts welcome for submission include high-quality original basic and clinical research, review article, and meta-analyses. Case reports and case series will not be accepted.

Keywords: corneal disease, corneal surgery, medication, pharmacology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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