Clinical Study of Therapeutic Ocular Surface Medium for Persistent Epithelial Defect.

Purpose: To investigate therapeutic ocular surface medium (TOSM), a potential physiological tear replacement therapy, for persistent epithelial defect (PED). Methods: 11 eyes of 10 patients with PED for ≥2 weeks without improvement despite conventional treatment were enrolled in a prospective pilot study of TOSM over 1 month. Results: Healing of the PED occurred in 3 out of the 11 eyes at 1, 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. At week 4, 2 eyes were almost healed (PED area ≤0.5 mm2). In 4 of the remaining 6 eyes, the PED area was reduced. Failure occurred in 1 case with end-stage ocular cicatricial pemphigoid and severe dry eye, and 1 patient withdrew due to a mild allergic reaction. There were no serious or irreversible side effects with TOSM. Conclusions: TOSM is a potential novel physiological therapy for PED that, unlike autologous serum, has the potential to be easily manufactured and widely available. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]