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-beta (TGF-beta) 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-beta 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%) heated 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.