Tacrolimus eye drops as monotherapy for vernal keratoconjunctivitis: a randomized controlled trial

• Autor(a) principal: Mueller, Eduardo Gayger [UNIFESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: dos Santos, Myrna Serapiao [UNIFESP], Freitas, Denise [UNIFESP], Pereira Gomes, Jose Alvaro [UNIFESP], Belfort, Rubens, Jr. [UNIFESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/54504; https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-27492017000300154
• topic: Conjunctivitis; Allergic; Anti-allergic agents; Tacrolimus; Ophthalmic solutions; Cromolyn sodium

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of monotherapy using tacrolimus eye drops versus sodium cromoglycate for the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC). Methods: Randomized double-masked controlled trial comparing the efficacy of tacrolimus 0.03% eye drops t.i.d. (Group 1) with sodium cromoglycate 4% eye drops t.i.d. (Group 2) for the symptomatic control of VKC at days 0, 15, 30, 45, and 90 of follow-up. Visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and other complications were evaluated to assess safety and side effects. Results: In total, 16 patients were included, with 8 enrolled in each group. Two patients from Group 2 were excluded from the analysis at days 45 and 90 because of corticosteroid use. Most patients were male (81.8%) and presented with limbal VKC (56.3%). There were statistically significant differences in favor of tacrolimus in the following severity scores: itching at day 90 (p = 0.001)