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Topical Corticosteroid Use in Addition to Oral Antivirals for Prevention of Recurrence of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Keratitis

A Randomized Trial of Topical Corticosteroid Use in Addition to Oral Antivirals for Prevention of Recurrence of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Keratitis

Status
Withdrawn
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03626376
Enrollment
0
Registered
2018-08-13
Start date
2019-12-10
Completion date
2022-03-02
Last updated
2022-01-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Herpes Simplex Virus Keratitis

Brief summary

This is a prospective, randomized clinical trial looking to determine the role of prophylactic treatment with topical corticosteroids in preventing recurrences in patients with a history of infectious epithelial keratitis, stromal keratitis,endotheliitis, or iridocyclitis. Patients will be enrolled to one of two treatment arms: Control arm: oral acyclovir 400 mg BID OR valacyclovir 500 mg daily or Study arm: oral acyclovir 400 mg BID OR valacyclovir 500 mg qdaily + topical corticosteroid eye drops.

Interventions

DRUGoral acyclovir 400 mg BID OR valacyclovir 500 mg qdaily

Treatment used in standard of care

DRUGoral acyclovir 400 mg BID OR valacyclovir 500 mg qdaily + topical corticosteroid eye drops

Topical steroid medications to be used in this study include Prednisolone acetate 1.0% or Prednisolone sodium phosphate 1%. The choice of formulation will be dependent on physician preference and medication availability. Formulations of other potencies such as Difluprednate emulsion will not be used in this study. Patients in the study arm will be started on topical corticosteroid 1 drop once a day in the affected eye.

Sponsors

NYU Langone Health
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Subject capable of giving informed consent and if not, an acceptable surrogate capable of giving informed consent on behalf of the subject. * Diagnosed with a history of herpetic eye disease * Three or more episodes of HSV keratitis based on medical record documentation of episodes with infectious epithelial keratitis, immune stromal keratitis with or without epithelial ulceration, endothelitis, or iridocyclitis. * Prior history of HSV keratitis based on medical record documentation of episode of infectious epithelial keratitis, immune stromal keratitis with or without epithelial ulceration, endothelitis, or iridocyclitis and corneal scarring in the central 4mm zone.

Exclusion criteria

* Persons who are pregnant or nursing or intend to become pregnant or nurse in the next one year. * Allergy to acyclovir, fluoromethalone, loteprednol, prednisolone acetate, prednisolone sodium phosphate, or any components of the formulations. * Persons who are incarcerated. * Unable to give informed consent or have an acceptable surrogate capable of giving informed consent on behalf of the subject. * Persons with systemic medical problems who do not agree to have continued medical follow-up. * History of topical corticosteroids to the eyelids or ocular surface of the involved eye within the prior 30 days prior to enrollment. * Patients with 3 or more episodes of uveitis in the past 12 months. * History of keratoplasy or keratorefractive surgery of the involved eye. * History of open or closed angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension on gtts. * History of systemic steroid use within the prior 30 days. * Unable to comply with the study protocol or in the opinion of the investigator would not be a candidate for participation. * Persons who are unable to instill gtts despite training/caregiver.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Measure of time to first recurrence24 MonthsKaplan-Meier curves will be plotted by treatment arm (overall and by site) and 95% confidence intervals for the difference between the time to first recurrences will be estimated. Results will also be plotted by site to provide descriptive summaries of the results.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026