Re: Voriconazole eye drop formulation may be effective for treating fungal keratitis

[Guest guest]

hey, a little of this might help.

--- In , " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...>

wrote:

>

> Study: Voriconazole eye drop formulation may be effective for

> treating fungal keratitis

> OSN SuperSite - Thorofare,NJ*

>

> http://www.osnsupersite.com/view.asp?rID=27241

>

> A formulation of voriconazole eye drops appears effective, well-

> tolerated and capable of reaching adequate aqueous humor levels for

> treating refractory fungal keratitis, according to a prospective

> study by researchers in Australia, published in the March issue of

> Archives of Ophthalmology.

>

> " This preparation is likely to have a valuable role in the

> therapeutic management of Candida and Aspergillus keratitis. It is

> substantially more affordable than oral therapy and has less

> potential to cause systemic adverse effects, " the authors said.

>

> Mervyn Ferdinands, MBBS(Hons), and colleagues randomly assigned 10

> patients with refractory fungal keratitis to receive a 1% solution

> of Vfend (voriconazole, Pfizer) in one of two dosing regimens

before

> performing routine anterior segment surgery.

>

> Specifically, the researchers administered a 1% solution of

> voriconazole, preserved with 0.01% benzalkonium chloride, to five

> patients every 6 hours for 3 days and to five patients in 4 hourly

> preoperative doses.

>

> During the anterior segment procedure, the surgeons used a 30-gauge

> needle attached to a syringe to aspirate 0.1 mL to 0.2 mL of

aqueous

> humor through a paracentesis site before infusing irrigation

> solution. Aqueous humor samples were then refrigerated at 4°C, and

> the researchers used validated high-performance liquid

> chromatography to determine voriconazole levels.

>

> The mean voriconazole concentration after hourly dosing before

> surgery was 1.9 µg/mL. The mean voriconazole concentration after a

> single dosing preoperatively every 6 hours was 0.94 µg/mL.

>

> The mean sampling times after the last administration of eye drops

> were 1.1 hours after hourly dosing and 2.1 hours after a single

> dosing every 6 hours, according to the study.

>

> The surgeons administered a total of 80 eye drops, with each

patient

> receiving between 2 mg and 6 mg, or " about 1% to 3% of the usual

> daily oral dose, " the authors noted.

>

> " Five participants reported no adverse reaction, three reported one

> instance of stinging, one reported two instances of stinging, and

> one reported sneezing and coughing after the initial dose, " they

> added.

>