Vidarabine therapy of complicated herpes simplex keratitis

Patients with active herpetic epithelial keratitis who had toxic reactions or were resistant to idoxuridine received vidarabine. Only one of 35 cases of herpetic epithelial keratitis without stromal disease failed to heal. Of 21 patients with active epithelial keratitis complicating stromal keratitis or uveitis. 11 had complete reepithelialization by day 14. Two patients were removed from the trial as treatment failures. The remaining cases healed in 21 to 48 days. In most instances the stromal keratitis was inactivated when the epithelial ulcer healed. In our patients treated with vidarabine, healing of herpes simplex epithelial ulcers was biphasic: Stage 1, progression from an active to an inactive viral ulcer, and Stage 2, complete reepithelialization.