The purpose of this study is to determine if the addition of oral voriconazole to topical treatment regimens results in lower rates of perforation in severe fungal corneal ulcers.
Fungal corneal ulcers tend to have very poor outcomes with commonly used treatments. There has only been a single randomized trial of anti-fungal therapy for mycotic keratitis, and no new ocular anti-fungal medications have been approved by the FDA since the 1960s. The triazole voriconazole has recently become the treatment of choice for systemic fungal infections such as pulmonary aspergillosis. The use of topical ophthalmic preparations of voriconazole has been described in numerous case reports, however there has been no systematic attempt to determine whether it is more or less clinically effective than natamycin. Additionally, there have been many case reports of the use of oral voriconazole in the treatment of fungal corneal ulcers, however there has been no systematic attempt to determine if it improves outcomes in severe ulcers. This study is a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial to determine if the use of oral voriconazole in severe ulcers reduces the rate of perforations. 240 fungal corneal ulcers with baseline visual acuity worse than 6/120 presenting to the Aravind Eye Hospitals and the UCSF Proctor Foundation will be randomized to receive oral voriconazole plus topical voriconazole and topical natamycin, or oral placebo plus topical voriconazole and topical natamycin. The primary outcome is the rate of perforation over the three month follow-up period.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
240
1% voriconazole (topical) plus 0.01% preservative, 1 drop applied to the affected eye every one hour while awake for 1 week, then every 2 hours while awake until three weeks after enrollment. 5% natamycin (topical), 1 drop applied to the affected eye every one hour while awake for 1 week, then every 2 hours while awake until three weeks after enrollment. 400 mg BID PO on study day one (loading dose), then 200 mg BID PO until 3 weeks from enrollment for patients weighing greater than 50 kg. For patients 40-50 kg, the loading dose is 300 mg BID PO on study day 1, then 150 mg BID PO until 3 weeks from enrollment. For patients weighing \<40 kg, the loading dose is 200 mg BID PO, then 100 mg BID PO until 3 weeks after enrollment.
1% voriconazole (topical) plus 0.01% preservative, 1 drop applied to the affected eye every one hour while awake for 1 week, then every 2 hours while awake until three weeks after enrollment. 5% natamycin (topical), 1 drop applied to the affected eye every one hour while awake for 1 week, then every 2 hours while awake until three weeks after enrollment. Two tablets BID PO on study day one, then one tablet BID PO until 3 weeks from enrollment.
Proctor Foundation, UCSF
San Francisco, California, United States
Aravind Eye Hospital
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Aravind Eye Hospitals
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Aravind Eye Hospital
Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India
Incidence of Perforation or Therapeutic Penetrating Keratoplasty
Hazard ratio of perforation or therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (TPK) comparing voriconazole to placebo
Time frame: 3 months from enrollment
Best Spectacle-corrected logMAR Visual Acuity
Best spectacle-corrected logMAR visual acuity at 3 months after enrollment, adjusting for enrollment BSCVA and treatment arm in a multiple linear
Time frame: 3 months after enrollment
Best Spectacle-corrected logMAR Visual Acuity at 3-weeks
Best spectacle-corrected logMAR visual acuity at 3 weeks after enrollment, adjusting for enrollment BSCVA and treatment arm in a multiple linear
Time frame: 3 weeks after enrollment
Size of Infiltrate/Scar - 3 Months
Size of infiltrate/scar at 3 months after enrollment, using enrollment infiltrate scar/size as a covariate
Time frame: 3 months after enrollment
Size of Infiltrate/Scar
Size of infiltrate/scar at 3 weeks after enrollment, using enrollment infiltrate scar/size as a covariate
Time frame: 3 weeks after enrollment
Hazard Ratio for Re-epithelialization
Hazard Ratio of re-epithelialization comparing the treatment groups
Time frame: Up to 21 days
Microbiological Cure at 7 Days
Fungal Culture negative at 7 days post treatment
Time frame: 7 days
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Aravind Eye Hospital
Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India
Bharatpur Eye Hospital
Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal
Lumbini Eye Institute
Siddharthanagar, Lumbini, Nepal
Number of Adverse Events
Comparing the number of serious and non-serious adverse events by treatment arm.
Time frame: 3-months from enrollment
Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of Isolates - Natamycin
Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of isolates to natamycin by treatment arm
Time frame: 7 days
Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of Isolates - Voriconazole
Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of isolates to voriconazole by treatment arm
Time frame: 7 days