rss
Br J Ophthalmol 2004;88:647-652 doi:10.1136/bjo.2003.026211
  • Clinical science
    • Extended reports

Comparison of autologous serum eye drops with conventional therapy in a randomised controlled crossover trial for ocular surface disease

  1. B A Noble1,
  2. R S K Loh1,
  3. S MacLennan2,
  4. K Pesudovs1,
  5. A Reynolds1,
  6. L R Bridges3,
  7. J Burr1,
  8. O Stewart1,
  9. S Quereshi1
  1. 1Department of Ophthalmology, Clarendon Wing, The General Infirmary at Leeds, Belmont Grove, Leeds LS2 9NS, UK
  2. 2Leeds Blood Centre, National Blood Service, Bridle Path, Leeds LS15 7TW, UK
  3. 3Academic Department of Pathology, The General Infirmary at Leeds, Belmont Grove, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
  1. Correspondence to: Mr B A Noble Department of Ophthalmology, Clarendon Wing, The General Infirmary at Leeds, Belmont Grove, Leeds LS2 9NS; bruceoverblow.demon.co.uk
  • Accepted 14 October 2003

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of 50% autologous serum drops against conventional treatment in ocular surface disorders refractory to normal treatments in a prospective randomised crossover trial.

Method: Patients fulfilling ophthalmological and haematological entry criteria were randomised to either 3 months of autologous serum 50% followed by 3 months of their conventional treatment, or 3 months of conventional treatment, followed by 3 months of autologous serum. Clinical assessments, including Schirmer’s test, rose Bengal, and fluorescein staining, were carried out on entry and at monthly intervals. Impression cytology was performed at entry, 3 and 6 months. Grading was carried out on degrees of squamous metaplasia and goblet cell density. Subjective comfort was recorded daily using the “faces” scale. These categorical scores were converted to linear measurement using Rasch analysis. Statistical analysis was carried out using Wilcoxon’s signed rank test and ANOVA.

Results: 16 patients were recruited with 31 eyes studied. The ocular surface diseases chiefly included Sjögren’s syndrome (n = 6) and keratoconjunctivitis sicca (n = 5). Impression cytology available in 25 of 31 eyes showed significant improvement on serum treatment, p<0.02. Rasch weighted faces scores were statistically significantly better with serum, p<0.01.

Conclusion: The results of this randomised study provide further evidence of the beneficial effects of autologous serum in severe ocular surface disorders. For most of these patients, autologous serum was superior to conventional treatment for improving ocular surface health and subjective comfort.

Footnotes

    This Article

    1. Abstract
    2. Full text
    3. PDF

    Services

    1. Email this link to a friend
    2. Alert me when this article is cited
    3. Alert me if a correction is posted
    4. Alert me when eletters are published
    5. Article Usage Statistics
    6. Similar articles in this journal
    7. Similar articles in Web of Science
    8. Similar articles in PubMed
    9. Add article to my folders
    10. Download to citation manager
    11. Request permissions

    Responses

    1. Submit a response
    2. No responses published

    Social bookmarking

    Register for free content


    Free sample
     This recent issue is free to all users to allow everyone the opportunity to see the full scope and typical content of BJO.
    View free sample issue >>

    Free archive
    The full back archive is now available for BJO. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006, back to volume 1 issue 1.
    Register to access the free archive >>

    Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.