Cyclosporine helpful for ocular rosacea patients

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Patients with ocular rosacea who failed to respond to other treatments responded well to treatment with topical cyclosporine, according to one study.

Henry Perry, MD, and colleagues presented results of a retrospective chart review of 55 ocular rosacea patients who were unresponsive to other treatments, including oral tetracycline. Treatment period with topical cyclosporine was 6 to 17 months.

Dr. Perry noted in this poster paper that 18% of patients who were unresponsive to other treatments showed “complete resolution when treated with cyclosporine.” He said 31% of patients showed significant improvement, and 31% experienced mild to moderate relief of symptoms and improved clinical signs.

The authors noted that 4% of patients had recurrence of symptoms while on treatment despite initial improvement, and 30% of patients showed poor response to the treatment and withdrew from treatment after 6 months.

Furthermore, 5% of patients who responded to cyclosporine were able to discontinue all medications without recurrence of rosacea. “Topical cyclosporine was sufficient to control ocular rosacea in 68% of responsive patients at last follow-up; they required no additional medications,” Dr. Perry said.

Finally, 27% of patients continued low-dose tetracycline along with topical cyclosporine. This poster was presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.