Topical And Systemic Azithromycin In Management Of Ocular Rosacea: Case Series

To assess the efficacy of topical and systemic Azithromycin in management of moderate to severe forms of ocular rosacea.

Ocular Rosacea is an under-diagnosed condition that can occur with or without facial rosacea skin manifestations. It can occur in children and young adults. Sometimes, it can result in severe visual impairment when presenting as rapidly progressing corneal neovascularization encroaching upon the center of the cornea.

Three patients of different ages (a ten-year old female, a seventeen-year-old male and a twenty-year old female patients) presented with different stages of ocular rosacea with corneal neovascularization. All of them were prescribed topical Azithromycin 1% eye drops twice daily for 5 days, and systemic Azithromycin (200 mg syrup in case of the ten-year-old child, and 500 mg tablet for the other two patients) once daily for 5 days as well. Both the topical and systemic treatment were repeated with the same regimen over three months. The three patients were examined during the first week, month and three months. Their progress was recorded with photographs.

Marked improvement of the clinical signs and marked visual improvement were noticed only a few days after the initiation of treatment. And the condition remained stable with no reported recurrence over the period of follow-up.

Azithromycin in both the topical and systemic forms is a very effective treatment in managing ocular rosacea. And repeating the treatment over a three-month period improves the treatment efficacy and reduces the chance of recurrence.