Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-24-2025
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The study aimed to report the outcomes of patients treated with cenegermin 0.002% for neurotrophic keratopathy (NK) following penetrating keratoplasty (PK).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective case series included patients evaluated at a tertiary care hospital who completed an 8-week course of cenegermin for NK within 12 months following PK. The primary outcome measure was NK stage, while secondary outcomes included complete epithelial healing, epithelial defect size, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at baseline and four time points during and following treatment. We also evaluated disease progression.
RESULTS: Fourteen eyes of 14 patients were included and demonstrated significant improvement in NK stage at 4 weeks (1.1 ± 0.7; P = 0.006) and 8 weeks after treatment initiation (0.9 ± 0.7; P = 0.002) and 1 month (0.6 ± 0.5; P < 0.001) and 6 months after treatment completion (0.8 ± 0.9; P = 0.002) compared to baseline (1.6 ± 0.5). Complete epithelial healing was noted 1 month (42.9%; P = 0.016) and 6 months after treatment completion (38.5%; P = 0.016). Epithelial defect size improved to < 5 mm2 at all points (P < 0.05) during and after treatment compared to baseline (37.24 mm2). Improvement in BCVA was not significant at any time point. Two (14.3%) patients experienced disease progression up to 6 months of follow‑up.
CONCLUSIONS: Following an 8-week course of cenegermin, patients with a history of PK demonstrated improvement in NK stage, epithelial healing, and reduced epithelial defect size lasting 6 months after treatment completion. Patients with prior PK and NK may be considered candidates for cenegermin treatment.
Recommended Citation
Zaloga, Alexandra R.; Khalili, Ashley; Ayres, Brandon D.; Finklea, Brenton D.; Meghpara, Beeran B.; Rapuano, Christopher J.; and Syed, Zeba A., "Utility of Cenegermin for the Management of Neurotrophic Keratopathy After Penetrating Keratoplasty" (2025). Wills Eye Hospital Papers. Paper 255.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/willsfp/255
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
40666776
Language
English
Included in
Chemical Actions and Uses Commons, Diagnosis Commons, Eye Diseases Commons, Ophthalmology Commons
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Oman Journal of Ophthalmology, Volume 18, Issue 2, May 2025, 198 - 204.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.4103/ojo.ojo_311_24.
Copyright © 2025 Oman Ophthalmic Society