Autologous serum heals persistent corneal defects in small study

Topical application of autologous serum may offer a less aggressive alternative to surgery for treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defects, a small study suggests.

Hossein Movahedan, MD, and colleague at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Shiraz, Iran, reported their experience with 19 eyes treated with 20% autologous serum for persistent corneal epithelial defects that had not responded to conventional treatment. In all cases, the serum was diluted in preservative-containing artificial tears and administered four to six times daily for up to 4 weeks.

Before treatment with autologous serum, the defects had persisted for a mean 52.2 days. After treatment, eight eyes (40%) healed within 2 weeks and an additional six eyes (30%) healed within 2 to 4 weeks. All patients reported improvement in symptoms, and longer-term follow-up for 10 patients confirmed ocular surface stability, according to the study authors.

Healing also occurred in all eight eyes with corneal anesthesia but not in three eyes with underlying thermal burns, the authors noted.

No patients experienced any major ocular or systemic side effects.

The study is published in the December issue of the Asian Journal of Ophthalmology.