Herpes simplex virus infections of the eye and their management with acyclovir

Herpetic keratitis remains a prominent cause of recurrent or chronic and blinding corneal disease; areas of particular difficulty are indolent ulceration, herpetic keratouveitis, keratoplasty and problems associated with steroid therapy. Topical acyclovir has been widely demonstrated to be a safe and effective antiviral for ulcerative herpetic keratitis; furthermore its particular advantages of high efficacy, minimal toxicity and good ocular penetration, suggest that it should be the treatment of choice for patients within these other areas of particular difficulty.