Fungal corneal ulcer could lead to a devastating outcome. The relative scarcity of readily available, inexpensive but effective topical antifungal drug has left many ophthalmologists desperate and frustated in treating the condition. The use of oral itraconazole has long been proven to be of clinical value in a number of forms of mycoses. Its safety profile is extremely good with minimal reported adverse effects. We investigated an aqueous form of itraconazole which we prepared into a 0.1 mg/ml concnetration and compared its efficacy as a topical antifungal against the standard drug. Natamycin 5 percent in the treatment of fungal keratitis in rabbits. A randomized animal trial was done using 24 rabbit eyes divided into 2 treatment groups. All rabbit corneas were inoculated with Aspergillus flavus and treated after 48 hours with either Topical itraconazole or Natamycin 5 percent for a period of 2 weeks. Results showed inhibition of the disease with both treatment groups. We also found no significant difference between the severity, progression and remission of the keratitis between both treatment groups clinically and statistically. Topical itraconazole 0.1 mg/ml was shown to be comparable to our standard topical antifungal Natamycin 5 percent in treating fungal keratitis. (Author)
Animal ; ASPERGILLUS KERATITIS ; OPHTHALMOLOGY ; ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS ; NATAMYCIN ; ITRACONAZOLE ; FUNGAL CORNEAL ULCER ; FUNGAL KERATITIS