Treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defect by autologous serum application

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of autologous serum application for the treatment of persistent epithelial defect. Design Prospective, clinical, noncomparative case series. Participants A total of 16 eyes were studied. Intervention Autologous serum was prepared from the patients and diluted to 20% by saline. The patients were instructed to use the autologous serum six to ten times a day. The concentration of vitamin A, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) was measured at 1 week and 1 month stored in the refrigerator and 1 month and 3 months in the freezer. Main outcome measures Time to closure of epithelial defect. Results Vitamin A, EGF, and TGF-β were stable during the 1 month in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. Among 16 persistent epithelial defects, 7 (43.8%) healed within 2 weeks, 3 (18.8%) healed within 1 month, and the remaining 6 (37.5%) did not respond within 1 month. No apparent side effect of autologous serum application was observed. Conclusions Autologous serum application healed 43.8% of persistent defect within 2 weeks and 62.5% within 1 month.