Treatment of Herpes Simplex Ocular Disease with Ganciclovir Ophthalmic Gel.

Byon, Ik Soo; Lee, Ji Eun; Lee, Jong Soo

Case Report

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2005;46(1):164-170.
Published online January 31, 2005.

Treatment of Herpes Simplex Ocular Disease with Ganciclovir Ophthalmic Gel.

Ik Soo Byon, Ji Eun Lee, Jong Soo Lee

Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea. jongsoo1@pusan.ac.kr

간시클로버 점안겔에 의한 단순포진성 안질환의 치료 4예

변익수,이지은,이종수

Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Correspondence: Ik Soo Byon, M.D.

Abstract

PURPOSE
We report the therapeutic effect of ganciclovir gel instead of acyclovir ointment usually used in the case of herpes simplex superficial ocular disease such as herpetic dendritic keratitis and erosive blepharitis. METHODS: Three patients clinically diagnosed with herpes simplex dendritic keratitis and one as erosive blepharitis were treated with the topical ophthalmic gel of 0.15% ganciclovir three times a day for 2 to 4 weeks. Ocular complications and recurrence were evaluated under slit-lamp examination for the follow-up periods. RESULTS: Dendritic keratitis and erosive blepharitis were completely recovered with no recurrence during the 5 months follow-up. There is no respective comparison here. In one case of herpes simplex keratitis, the keratitis wound was repaired after debridement of corneal epithelial layer and application of ganciclovir gel. Complications including burning sensation and superficial punctate keratitis did not develop and visual acuity improved. CONCLUSIONS: Ganciclovir ophthalmic gel should be considered one of the effective therapeutic drugs for the herpes simplex ocular disease.

Key Words: Acyclovir ointment;Ganciclovir gel;Herpes simplex ocular disease