Abstract
Presentation Description :
A majority of long-term survivors of hematopoietic stem cell / bone marrow transplant recipients are at risk of developing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Chronic ocular GVHD is a common, though relatively late, complication seen in these patients and is typically characterized by severe inflammation of the ocular surface associated with various manifestations of dry eye disease- ranging from relatively mild surface epitheliopathy to a severe sicca syndrome presenting as filamentary keratitis, epithelial sloughing, and in some cases stromal thinning and bilateral corneal perforation. There is currently no specific “standard of care” for the management of the ocular manifestations of GVHD. This talk will provide an overview of the unmet medical needs in this severe ocular surface pathology and provide a brief summary of a rational approach to its management.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.