| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | 0.1% Tacrolimus eye drops for the treatment of eyes suffering from severe allergic keratoconjunctivitis forms: long-term follow-up |
| Purpose | Aim of our study was to investigate quality of life, signs, symptoms and treatment regimen of children affected by severe forms of ocular allergy refractory to cyclosporine (CsA) |
| Methods | Our retrospective analysis was based on the electronic medical records of 78 subjects, namely 59 males and 19 females with mean age 6 years +7 months. Patients were visited during the last 5 years.
We included patients affected by refractory allergic conjunctivitis with a very poor response to conventional treatments, including CsA eye drops.
Patients suffering from seasonal forms of vernal kerato-conjunctivitis were treated with 0.1% Tacrolimus eye drops twice daily for at least 6-7 months during spring and summer.
Following a personal QoL questionnaire, we analyzed 3 main symptoms which are itching, photophobia and foreign body sensation together with 5 clinical signs (comparing slit-lamp pictures at each visit with a + score from 0 to 4+), namely mucus discharge, redness, keratopathy, Trantas limbal nodules or cobblestone papillae.
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| Results | All symptoms and signs decreased in more than 60% of the eyes and QoL questionnaire significantly improved (p<0.01) after 2 weeks of 0.1% tacrolimus, while more than 96% of the eyes experienced a fully recovery after 1 month.
No significant side effects were registered, except for a transient burning sensation at eye-drops administration in the first 10 days.
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| Conclusion | In our experience, 0.1% Tacrolimus eye-drops are very effective with low risks and side-effects in the treatment of refractory VKC forms; they are easily manageable due to fewer administration times (usually twice a day), while providing a true steroid sparing effect. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
Authors 1
| Last name | RISSOTTO |
| Initials of first name(s) | F |
| Department | San Raffaele Hospital, University Eye Clinic |
| City | Milan |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 2
| Last name | RISSOTTO |
| Initials of first name(s) | R |
| Department | San Paolo Hospital, University Eye Clinic |
| City | Milan |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 3
| Last name | Ciurlo |
| Initials of first name(s) | C |
| Department | Allergic Conjuctivitis referral center, Rapallo Hospital |
| City | Rapallo |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 4
| Last name | Allegri |
| Initials of first name(s) | p |
| Department | Allergic Conjuctivitis referral center, Rapallo Hospital |
| City | Rapallo |
| Country | Italy |
