Treatment of Acute Retinal Necrosis Syndrome with Oral Antiviral Medications
Objective Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a distinct ocular viral syndrome traditionally treated with intravenous acyclovir followed by oral acyclovir. We investigated the use of the oral antiviral medications valacyclovir and famciclovir as the sole treatment for patients with newly diagnosed ARN s...
Saved in:
Published in | Ophthalmology (Rochester, Minn.) Vol. 114; no. 2; pp. 307 - 312 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York, NY
Elsevier Inc
01.02.2007
Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Objective Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a distinct ocular viral syndrome traditionally treated with intravenous acyclovir followed by oral acyclovir. We investigated the use of the oral antiviral medications valacyclovir and famciclovir as the sole treatment for patients with newly diagnosed ARN syndrome. Design Retrospective, uncontrolled, interventional case series. Participants Eight consecutive patients with newly diagnosed ARN treated solely with oral antiviral medications. Intervention All patients received famciclovir or valacyclovir without antecedent intravenous therapy. One patient with bilateral ARN treated with famciclovir received a single intravitreal injection of foscarnet in the more severely involved eye. Main Outcome Measures Clinically and photographically documented complete resolution of retinitis and best-corrected visual acuity on final follow-up. Results Active retinitis resolved completely in 10/10 (100%) affected eyes. Initial response to treatment was seen as early as 4 days (in 5 eyes), with a median time to complete resolution of 14 days. At the last examination, visual acuity was improved (≥ 2 Snellen lines) in 6 (60%) eyes, stable in 2 (20%) eyes, and worse in 2 (20%) eyes. Over a mean follow-up of 36 weeks (range, 7–72 weeks), 3 eyes developed rhegmatogenous retinal detachment that was successfully repaired with 1 vitrectomy surgery. No patient with initially unilateral involvement developed disease in the contralateral eye. Conclusions In this pilot study, the use of the oral drugs valacyclovir and famciclovir resulted in complete regression of herpetic necrotizing retinitis. Additional studies are necessary to evaluate the role of these antiherpetic medications in the treatment of the ARN syndrome. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Case Study-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-4 content type line 23 ObjectType-Report-1 ObjectType-Article-3 |
ISSN: | 0161-6420 1549-4713 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ophtha.2006.06.058 |