Topical cyclosporine a for treatment of dry eye due to chronic mustard gas injury

Purpose: to evaluate the efficacy of topical cyclosporine a (tcsa) for treatment of dry eye disease in patients suffering from chronic ocular complications of mustard gas (mg) injury. methods: this interventional case series included patients with mg injury suffering from severe dry eye despite receiving artificial tears and punctal plugs. patients were administered tcsa 0.05% twice daily for 3 months. severity of the condition was evaluated by measuring tear osmolarity,ocular surface disease index (osdi),tear break?up time (tbut),and schirmer's test at baseline and at the end of study. results: a total of 34 patients with chronic mg injury and mean age of 47.1 ± 6.5 years were studied. compared to baseline values,tear osmolarity (301.7 ± 11.5 vs. 286.3 ± 7.9 mosmol/l,p < 0.001) and osdi (47.5 ± 7.2 vs. 42.7 ± 7.1,p < 0.001) were significantly improved. likewise,schirmer's test (4.6 ± 1.3 vs. 5 ± 1.3 mm,p < 0.001) and tbut (1.9 ± 1.4 vs. 2.7 ± 1.5 s,p < 0.001) also significantly recovered at the end of the study. conclusion: tcsa 0.05% reduces tear osmolarity and improves dry eye symptoms and can serve as an efficacious treatment for ocular complications in patients with chronic mg injury.