Serum Eye Drops Use In The Treatment Of Ocular Surface Disease

Ocular surface disease (OSD) is the term given for a group of disorders that can cause alteration to the production, composition or distribution of the tear film leading to disease of the ocular surface. OSD affects up to 20% of the population causing significant discomfort and impacts on the patient’s quality of life. Conventional therapy includes artificial tears, punctal occlusion and the use of anti-inflammatories. Serum eye drops (SED) have been found to be highly beneficial for patients with severe OSD refractory to conventional treatments.
The purpose of this study is to review the patients with severe OSD who have received SED treatment in a district general hospital compared to the rest of the UK.

Patients from Moorfields Eye Hospital, Bedford, who were referred to the National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) for SED between March 2021 and January 2023.

53 patients with severe OSD who were referred to the NHSBT for SED between March 2021 to January 2023 were analysed retrospectively.
Parameters analysed included: patient demographic data including gender, age and underlying clinical diagnosis, previous treatment including artificial tears, punctal plugs and fingerprick autologous blood (FAB), time between joining programme to receiving serum and number of patients who joined the SED programme.

53 patients joined the programme for SED treatment: 52 patients for allogenic SED and 1 patient for autologous SED.
Patient demographics included 40:13 Female:Male ratio, with an age range from 41 to 91 years old, mean age 68 years.
Prior to SED referral, 90% of patients had trialled at least two different types of artificial tears prior, 43% of patients had trialled punctal plugs and 24% of patients had trialled FAB.
Greatest indication for SED use included 31 patients with Sjogren’s related dry eye and 12 patients with neurotrophic disease.
Of these 53 patients who joined the programme, 34 patients were issued SED batches, all of which were allogenic serum.
Time between joining the SED programme and issue of SED ranged from 4 days to 20 months

This study found that the Sjogren’s related dry eye is the greatest indication for SED use. A greater number of female patients joined the SED programme compared to larger cohort studies in the UK. Further follow-up of the patients on the SED programme is required to understand the benefits of SED treatment in the management of severe OSD refractory to conventional treatment.