Diagnostic and therapeutic value of the replica technique in herpetic keratitis

ABSTRACT

The recommendation of corneal replicas in the management of superficial herpetic keratitis serves a dual purpose. The first purpose is diagnostic to facilitate histopathological examination of the intact corneal epithelium including the herpetic lesions. The second purpose is therapeutic to promote uneventful healing of the corneal ulcer without any complications and perhaps to reduce the recurrence rate. The causes of recurrences may be either due to stromal affections in which the epithelial lesion only was cured. In cases of simple epithelial herpetic keratitis, corneal replicas proved to be effective in healing the condition within 3-5 days without any complications. If the recurrence has occured and it is very low percentage, it may be attributed to insufficient amount of replica or missed diagnosis of significant stromal affection