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•  POSSIBLY HELPFUL  In a randomised trial in children and adolescents with severe vernal keratoconjunctivitis, eye drops containing ciclosporin at a concentration of 1 mg/ml relieved some symptoms in a minority of patients after 4 months, compared with the same eye drops without ciclosporin. It has not been shown to affect the clinical complications of the disease. Ciclosporin eye drops mainly provoke eye disorders, including pain and pruritus. A longer-term risk of ocular or periocular cancer has not been ruled out. In practice, for patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis and very bothersome symptoms, when continuing treatment with corticosteroid eye drops is not advisable due to adverse effects, eye drops containing ciclosporin at a concentration of 1 mg/ml is an option with limited efficacy but a different set of ocular adverse effects. The summary of product characteristics (SPC) for Verkazia° recommends that patients who could become pregnant use effective contraception. 
  

©Prescrire 1 May 2021

Source: "Ciclosporin eye drops - Verkazia°. In severe vernal keratoconjunctivitis: different adverse effects from those of a corticosteroid" Prescrire International 2021; 30 (226): 122. Free.

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