Autologous Plasma Treatment for Severe Dry Eye Patients
Status:
Withdrawn
Trial end date:
2020-10-14
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Patients with severe dry eye who have exhausted conventional treatment are not uncommon and
are difficult to manage. They and their physicians are helpless when faced with these
scenarios. A small HPRG group, Health Science Authority (HSA) and IRB approved study of
autologous plasma eye drop therapy for patients with recalcitrant dry eye has been completed
recently by investigators at the Singapore National Eye Centre. The unique feature of the
previous protocol was that the autologous plasma preparation was made and contained in sealed
segments of intravenous tubing until use by the patient. The study showed that the corneal
fluorescein staining of patients who regularly used autologous plasma over a 6 week period
improved significantly. Additionally, there was a significant reduction in the total number
of topical eye drop treatment required. Investigator did not encounter any cases of infected
eye drop preparation or any cases of eye infection. Seventy percent of these patients would
recommend this treatment to their relatives and friends suggesting that this form of
treatment is a valuable additional modality for dry eyes. Now, investigator would like to
extend the short-term pilot study into a long-term single arm clinical trial, in order to
determine the best protocol/logistic for this treatment that is practical and still
effective, and allowing for more than one plasmapheresis during the study. To achieve this,
investigator aim to perform a longitudinal prospective study of patients with severe dry eye
who cannot be satisfactorily managed with conventional dry eye treatments using a proposed
regime for plasmapheresis and plasma storage.