Dr. BHAWESH SAHA

Dr. RASHMI KUMARI

Abstract

Purpose: To compare tacrolimus and interferon alpha-2b (IFN alpha-2b) eye drops in the treatment of VKC.

Methods: 30 patients with recalcitrant VKC were randomly assigned to receive either 0.03% tacrolimus or IFN alpha-2b (1,000,000 units/cc)for 3 months . Chi-square and t tests were used for comparison of outcomes between both groups.

Results: Mean ± SD age was 11.1 ± 5.2 years. Thirty-one patients (77.5%) were male. The mean duration of disease was 3.4 ± 2.9 years. In this study, the signs and symptoms were significantly reduced in patients after treatment in both groups (P = 0.0001). In the tacrolimus group, all patients responded to treatment whereas only one subject in the IFN group failed to respond (P = 0.99). Side effects in both groups were mild and tolerable.

Conclusions: 0.03% tacrolimus and IFN alpha-2b are equally effective and appear to be safe in treatment of recalcitrant VKC.

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