To investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) eye drops in the healing of post-keratoplasty persistent corneal epithelial defects

Forty patients with persistent corneal epithelial defects following keratoplasty were treated with PRP eye drops four times a day. PRP eye drops were prepared with a low and high speed centrifuge method and final platelet counts were between 600000-800000 plt/µl for different ages and gender. Mean duration of treatment to complete epithelial healing was compared with mean duration of conventionally-treated corneal defects before the PRP treatment by paired t-test. Mean duration of treatment was also statistically analyzed between ages and gender by ANOVA test. P-value less than 0.05 considered statistically significant.

PRP eye drops led to rapid healing of persistent corneal epithelial defects in all patients. Mean duration of treatment to complete epithelial healing was 2.49 ± 1.23 weeks and was significantly less than the mean duration of conventionally-treated corneal defects before PRP treatment (6.82± 1.25wk) (P < 0.001). Mean duration of treatment was not statistically significant between different ages and gender (2.6 week in female versus 2.3 weeks in Male).

Treatment with autologous PRP eye drops is an effective and reliable approach that accelerates healing of post-transplantation persistent corneal epithelial defects.