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Efficacy and safety of 0.1% lodoxamide for the long-term treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis

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Abstract

Purpose

To report the therapeutic efficacy and safety of topical 0.1% lodoxamide in the long-term treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis.

Methods

Sixty-seven eyes of 34 patients with active SLK were studied. Therapeutic response was analyzed according to modified-Ohashi parameters. All eyes were treated with 0.1% lodoxamide twice daily, and those with moderate or severe inflammation received a short course (7–14 days) of 0.1% fluorometholone acetate at presentation and during a relapse. Patients were evaluated at regular intervals and followed up for ≥3 months on continuous therapy. Primary endpoints included inflammatory response; rates of inflammatory control and remission; relapses while on therapy or on remission; and therapeutic failure rate.

Results

The mean follow-up time on lodoxamide therapy was 15.3 months. The majority of eyes (82.0%) achieved control of inflammation in a mean time of 2.2 months. Of these, 42 (76.3%) eyes remained under control while on therapy for 13.8 months. There was a significant improvement of SLK-related signs by the third month on therapy (p < 0.05). A total of 24 (35.8%) eyes achieved remission. Relapses presented in 12 (18.0%) treated eyes and in 4 (16.6%) eyes on remission. Only 5 (7.4%) eyes failed to respond to therapy. In the majority of cases (95.3%), lodoxamide 0.1% was well tolerated and minor adverse effects not requiring stopping the medication were reported in only 4.7% of patients.

Conclusions

Lodoxamide 0.1% is an efficacious therapeutic alternative for the treatment of active and chronic SLK. This medication has proved to be safe and well tolerated.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Luis A. Gonzales for his advice in the design and statistical analysis of the study.

Funding

This study was funded in part by Fundacion Santos y de la Garza-Evia, I.B.P. (a non-profit private charity institution). No other institution participated in funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Oftalmologia y Ciencias Visuales, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina, Av. Batallon de San Patricio No. 112. Col. Real de San Agustin, San Pedro Garza Garcia, C.P. 62770, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

    Alejandro Rodriguez-Garcia, Yolanda Macias-Rodriguez & Jose M. Gonzalez-Gonzalez

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  1. Alejandro Rodriguez-Garcia
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  2. Yolanda Macias-Rodriguez
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  3. Jose M. Gonzalez-Gonzalez
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Correspondence to Alejandro Rodriguez-Garcia.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Alejandro Rodriguez Garcia is a consultant for ALCON (Novartis) laboratories. The rest of the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article (materials and methods section).

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Rodriguez-Garcia, A., Macias-Rodriguez, Y. & Gonzalez-Gonzalez, J.M. Efficacy and safety of 0.1% lodoxamide for the long-term treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis. Int Ophthalmol 38, 1243–1249 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-017-0588-1

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