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Topical cyclosporine A effective therapy before, following refractive surgery
Topical cyclosporine A was found to be an effective therapy for optimizing patients prior to refractive surgery, as well as for the treatment of new-onset or worsened dry eye following surgery, according to researchers.
Researchers retrospectively analyzed 1,056 patients who were screened for refractive surgery during a 5-year period to assess levels of pre- and postoperative dry eye, as well as patients’ responsiveness to topical cyclosporine A treatment.
Among the 1,056 eyes analyzed, 642 eyes progressed to surgery. Of those eyes, 524 eyes underwent LASIK and 118 underwent PRK.
Dry eye incidence was found in 9.9% of women compared with 5.2% of men. Fifty-five of 81 patients diagnosed with dry eye were classified as potential candidates for refractive surgery. Among these patients, 37 with moderate dry eye were treated with topical 0.05% cyclosporine A twice per day before reevaluation.
After treatment, 28 eyes underwent LASIK, four eyes underwent PRK and five eyes did not undergo surgery due to failed dry eye treatment.
The researchers found that postoperative dry eye was more frequent after LASIK compared with PRK, after LASIK for the correction of hyperopia compared with myopia, in women and in patients older than 60 years.
Twelve patients who underwent PRK and 132 patients who underwent LASIK were found to have postoperative refractive surgery-induced neurotrophic epitheliopathy.