Acyclovir Therapy in Prevention of Recurrent Herpetic Keratitis Following Penetrating Keratoplasty

Abstract

Purpose: To compare systemic vs topical acyclovir therapy for the prevention of recurrence of herpetic keratitis following penetrating keratoplasty (PK). Design: A retrospective observational study. Methods: Patients who underwent PK for herpetic eye disease (HED) and prophylactically received acyclovir therapy postoperatively, either systemically (26 eyes) or topically (29 eyes), were analyzed. The main parameters evaluated were recurrence of herpetic keratitis, graft rejection, visual acuity, and graft survival rate. Results: Mean average follow-up period was 24.7 ± 3.6 months and 23.5 ± 2.3 months in the systemic and topical group, respectively (P = 0.73). The average duration of prophyla..