Neurotrophic Keratopathy in Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus

Neurotrophic keratopathy (NK) is a serious condition that can lead to significant visual morbidity. One of the greatest challenges of treating NK is that there are a wide variety of underlying conditions that affect the corneal nerves, and the root cause of the NK for any given individual is necessary in order to provide the best possibility of treatment success. NK is noted to be frequently caused by herpetic disease, including herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO), and studies have demonstrated that the risk of developing NK increases with recurrences of HZO. As such, vaccination to prevent HZO, as well as suppressive valacyclovir to reduce the chance of multiple recurrences of HZO in individuals who have had HZO, can decrease the risk of NK from HZO as well as the subsequent vision loss. These preventative therapies are therefore highly recommended.