APPLICATION OF AUTOLOGOUS SERUM EYE DROPS AFTER PTERYGIUM SURGERY

Objective: To compare the corneal epithelium healing time and post-operative pain after pterygium surgery with and without he use of autologous serum drops. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Eye Department, Combined Military Hospital Quetta, from Jan to Aug 2019. Methodology: Twenty patients were included in this study and divided into two groups. All patients underwent pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft. Fourteen of them were instilled with autologous serum drops while 14 were given lubricants postoperatively until corneal epithelium healed completely. Corneal epithelium healing time, visual analog scale for postoperative pain assessment, conjunctival inflammation and recurrences were evaluated. Patients were followed up for 6 months. Results: For corneal epithelial healing, 1 (7.14%) patient showed complete healing on day 2 while 7 (50%) showed healing on day 3 and 6 (42.86%) on day 4. While in non-autologous serum drops group 7 (50%) showed complete healing on day 4 while 4 (28.57%) showed healing on day 5 and 3 (21.43%) on day 6. The mean corneal healing time of autologous serum drops group was 3.36 ± 0.63 days and that of non-autologous serum drops group was 4.71 ± 0.83 days. Patients of autologous serum drops group also experienced significantly less pain as compared to the non-autologous serum drops group. While the recurrence rate and conjunctival inflammation in the two groups was found to be of equal degree. Conclusion: Patients who used autologous serum eye drops post operatively experienced less pain and their corneal epithelium healed earlier than the.......

Treatment of persistent epithelial defects with single-dose autologous serum eye drops

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of single-dose autologous serum eye drops (ASEDs) for treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defects (PEDs). Methods: About 34 eyes of 26 patients treated from March 2016 to May 2020 with a single dose of ASEDs for PEDs that did not respond to conventional treatment were retrospectively evaluated. Patient demographics, predisposing factors, size, and duration of the PED, duration of treatment, and dosage of ASEDs, PED healing time, success rate of the ASED treatment, and follow-up time after the onset of ASED treatment were recorded. Autologous serum eye drops (20%) were prepared by diluting the serum with preservative-free artificial tears in single-dose vials. Vials were stored at −20°C and used daily after dissolving. Results: The mean patient age was 47.0 ± 18.5 years, and 13 (50%) of the patients were male. The most common indication for ASEDs was PED after keratoplasty. The mean duration of ASED treatment was 8.5 ± 6.3 months, and mean follow-up time was 22.8 ± 12.2 months. Autologous serum eye drop treatment was effective in 25 (73.5%) eyes and partially effective in 5 (14.7%) eyes. None of the eyes displayed complications related to the treatment. Conclusion: In patients with PED for whom conservative treatment is insufficient, ASEDs prepared by dilution with preservative-free artificial tears in single-dose vials and administered based on the daily use principle appear to be effective and safe.

The Lucerne Protocol for the Production of Autologous Serum Eyedrops

Background There are a variety of protocols for manufacturing autologous serum (AS) eye drops. The Lucerne protocol for the production of AS eye drops uses a slightly reduced gravitational (g)-force and time for the centrifugation process (2500 × g for 10 minutes), compared to previously published optimised protocols, to obtain high levels of epitheliotropic growth factors (3000 × g for 15 minutes). The goal of this study was to compare the concentrations of growth factors, albumin and lysozyme in autologous serum eye drops manufactured with these protocols. Material and Methods Blood from 5 healthy volunteers was placed in plastic tubes without an anticoagulant. Tubes from each donor were left in a vertical position for 2 hours at room temperature to facilitate coagulation, followed by centrifugation at either 2500 × g for 10 minutes or at 3000 × g for 15 minutes at room temperature. The serum levels of beta nerve growth factor (β-NGF), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), epidermal growth factor (EGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) were measured in triplicate with a multi-analyte Simple Plex platform. The Simple Plex cartridge allows each sample to be run in triplicate for each analyte and prevents any interaction between the antibody components for each biomarker. The serum level of albumin was measured by turbidimetric immunoassay Tina-quant and of lysozyme by single radial immunodiffusion assay. Results For all analytes, the reduced g-force and centrifugation time did not result in a significant difference in serum levels. Conclusions The Lucerne protocol for the production of autologous serum eye drops with reduced g-force and a shorter centrifugation time does not affect the concentrations of the main epitheliotropic growth factors, albumin and lysozyme, in AS eye drops.