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Autologous serum drops used safely for ocular surface disorders in inpatient setting
Autologous serum drops can be safely used in the management of ocular surface disorders in an inpatient setting if a strict protocol of preparation and storage is adhered to, a group of English researchers found.
R. Lagnado and colleagues at the University of Nottingham reported on their study, in which 14 patients received autologous serum drops for 4 to 14 days, with a cumulative total of 67 days. Each day, the first and last drop was cultured on broth and blood sugar. There were a total of 134 samples.
Four of the patients (nine samples) grew Staphylococcus epidermidis only. One patient (yielding one sample) showed S. epidermidis and a scant amount of additional contamination in the same sample. On different days, that same patient grew two different Staph bacteria in two different samples.
Of the initial 14, one patient (yielding one sample) grew micrococcus. No clinical or microbial evidence of infection was seen in any of the six patients.
The study is published in the April issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.