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A Novel Treatment Approach for Presumed Adenoviral Conjunctivitis : Combination of Povidone-Iodine 0.6%/Dexamethasone 0.1%

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First Author: Y.Malek MOROCCO

Co Author(s):    T. Abdellaoui   K. Reda   A. Oubaaz              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Povidone-Iodine 0,6% / Dexamethasone 0,1% in reducing the duration of presumed viral conjunctivitis and preventing sub-epithelial cornea infiltrates.

Setting:

Department of Ophthalmology, Mohammed V Military Training Hospital, Rabat, Morocco.

Methods:

This was a prospective, non randomized study, conducted on 80 patients, with a clinical diagnosis of presumed viral conjunctivitis, who were assigned to either PV-I/dexamethasone group or artificial tears group. Treatment group received topical dexamethasone 0.1%/povidone-iodine 0.6% eye drops four times daily, and patients in the control group received artificial tears four times daily, both for seven days. Patients were clinically evaluated on the day of recruitment, and 5, 10 and 30 days after. Primary outcome was duration of the disease. Secondary outcomes were the tolerance of the treatment, incidence of subepithelial cornea infiltrates and intraocular pressure.

Results:

Except for the sex ratio, all the data including age, history of exposure to individuals with red eye or recent symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection were comparable in the 2 groups (P>0,05). Mean duration of the disease in the PVI/dexamethasone group (6,25 days +/- 4,37) was significantly lower (p<0,001) than artificial tears group (12,75 days+/-3,48). Adverse events including punctate keratitis and intraocular pressure were comparable in both groups (p>0,05) at day 5, 10 and 30. Corneal infiltrates were significantly more frequent at day 5 (p=0,048) and 10 (P=0,032) in the artificial tears group but comparable at day 30.

Conclusions:

Topical combination of Povidone Iodine 0,6% with Dexamethasone 0,1% eyedrops four time daily for seven days, appeared to be clinically safe, well tolerated, and reduced dramatically duration of presumed viral conjunctivitis without lowering corneal sub-epithelial infiltrates incidence at the end of the treatment.

Financial Disclosure:

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