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Allogeneic serum eye drops: time these became the norm?
  1. Krishna G Badami1,
  2. Malcolm McKellar2
  1. 1New Zealand Blood Service, Christchurch, New Zealand
  2. 2Dr Malcolm McKellar Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
  1. Correspondence to Dr Krishna G Badami, New Zealand Blood Service, 87 Riccarton Road, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand; krishna.badami{at}nzblood.co.nz

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301668

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    Serum eye drops contain growth and neurotrophic factors, fibronectin and vitamin A that promote corneal epithelialisation and nerve healing and are a well-established treatment for ocular surface disorders.1 Though normally derived from autologous blood, not all patients can be donors for reasons such as infancy, poor venous access and comorbidities. Also, autologous serum from some patients could potentially contain concentrations of drugs,2 or possibly, inflammatory mediators, harmful to the eye. Allogeneic drops are an alternative in such circumstances.

    Complex mechanisms make the eye an immunologically privileged site.3 Cornea and conjunctiva bear ABO antigens and some HLA.4 Serum contains antibodies and complement. Nevertheless, successful treatment with ABO-unselected allogeneic serum is …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval Allogeneic serum eye drops had previously been used in small numbers of patients. When its use was suggested in New Zealand, the proposal was considered in detail and approved by the New Zealand Blood Service Clinical Advisory Group and, later, by the regulatory authority in New Zealand, Medsafe. Essentially, what we are presenting in this brief report is a description of our procedure for producing allogeneic serum eye drops and a review of our experience with them.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.