Corneal sensation and ocular surface parameters in patients with unilateral herpetic epithelial keratitis

Aim: To compare of the affected eyes of the patients with unilateral herpetic keratitis with their fellow eyes and the healthy controls in terms of ocular surface parameters and corneal sensation.Materials and Methods: Both eyes of the consecutive patients with a PCR-proven diagnosis of unilateral chronic herpetic epithelial keratitis and the left eyes of age- and gender-matched healthy controls were included in the study. Schirmer’s test, tear break-up time (TBUT), corneal sensation, and tear osmolarity were investigated in all of the patients.Results: Forty-two eyes of 21 patients with unilateral herpetic keratitis and twenty-one eyes of 21 healthy controls who had no ocular pathology were included in the study. While the mean tear osmolarity of the eyes with herpetic keratitis was 317.3±15.6 mOsm/L, it was 313.2±16.1 mOsm/L for the fellow eyes, and 302.6±11.9 mOsm/L for the healthy eyes (p=0.002). Both herpetic eyes and fellow eyes had significantly higher tear osmolarity and lower TBUT values in comparison to the healthy controls (osmolarity: p=0.002 and p=0.03, and TBUT: p

PDF

___

1. Liesegang TJ. Herpes simplex virus epidemiology and ocular importance. Cornea 2001;20:1–13.
2. Liesegang TJ. Epidemiology of ocular herpes simplex. Natural history in Rochester, Minn, 1950 through 1982. Arch Ophthalmol 1989;107:1160–5.
3. Farooq AV, Shukla D. Herpes simplex epithelial and stromal keratitis: an epidemiologic update. Surv Ophthalmol 2012;57:448–62.
4. Rowe AM, St Leger AJ, Jeon S, et al. Herpes keratitis. prog retin eye res 2013;32:88–101.
5. Schmader KE, Dworkin RH. Natural history and treatment of herpes zoster. J Pain 2008;9:3-9.
6. Bastian FO, Rabson AS, Yee CL, et al. Herpesvirus hominis: isolation from human trigeminal ganglion. Science 1972;178:306–7.
7. Baringer JR, Swoveland P. Recovery of herpes-simplex virus from human trigeminal ganglions. N Engl J Med 1973;288:648–50.
8. Souza PMF, Holland EJ, Huang AJW. Bilateral herpetic keratoconjunctivitis. Ophthalmology 2003;110:493–6.
9. Ertan A, Aydin Akova Y, Tayanc E, et al. Clinical Diagnosis and Approach to Patients With Herpetic Uveitis. Turk J Ophthalmol 2002;32:539–43.
10. Davis EA, Dohlman CH. Neurotrophic keratitis. Int. Ophthalmol Clin 2001;41:1–11.
11. Knickelbein JE, Hendricks RL, Charukamnoetkanok P. Management of herpes simplex virus stromal keratitis: an evidence-based review. Surv Ophthalmol 2009;54:226–34.
12. Jabbarvand M, Hashemian H, Khodaparast M, et al. Do Unilateral Herpetic Stromal Keratitis and Neurotrophic Ulcers Cause Bilateral Dry Eye? Cornea 2015;34:768–72.
13. Hamrah P, Cruzat A, Dastjerdi MH, et al. Corneal sensation and subbasal nerve alterations in patients with herpes simplex keratitis: an in vivo confocal microscopy study. Ophthalmology 2010;117:1930–6.
14. Moein HR, Kheirkhah A, Muller RT, et al. Corneal nerve regeneration after herpes simplex keratitis: A longitudinal in vivo confocal microscopy study. Ocul Surf 2018;16:218–225.
15. Zemaitiene R, Rakauskiene M, Danileviciene V, et al. Corneal esthesiometry and sub-basal nerves morphological changes in herpes simplex virus keratitis/uveitis patients. Int. J. Ophthalmol 2019;12:407–11.
16. Lemp MA, Baudouin C, Baum J, et al. The definition and classification of dry eye disease: report of the definition and classification subcommittee of the international dry eye workshop (2007). The Ocular Surface 2007;5:75–92.
17. Azher TN, Yin X-T, Tajfirouz D, et al. Herpes simplex keratitis: challenges in diagnosis and clinical management. Clin Ophthalmol 2017;11:185–91.