Study Finds Steroids Heal Some Severe Corneal Ulcers

Corneal ulcers are one of the most dangerous complications associated with wearing contact lenses, usually occurring as a result of failure to follow cleaning and maintenance instructions. The condition is difficult to treat, but scientists have recently found a new therapy to help those whose ulcers have progressed really far.

A study conducted by researchers from the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology and published in the Archives of Ophthalmology suggests that steroids, though do not help much in typical cases, can cause significant improvement in the most severe ones. The study was carried out in collaboration with the Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai, India and included 500 subjects from the United States and India (in the US, most cases of corneal ulcers result from contact lens use and in India from agriculture-related injuries).

A co-author of the report, Dr Nisha Acharya stated that the discovery is very important, especially because trying steroids in patients with severe ulcers was risky. Now, because of the positive results of the trial, the researchers are planning to continue their work, focusing on patients suffering from even more severe ulcers.