Topical doxycycline for corneal neovascularisation
Reviewed by Khadijah Basheer

Six eyes with corneal vascularisation were treated with 1% topical doxycycline, four times a day for three weeks. The patients were reviewed at various intervals over a period of one year. The eyes selected had neovascularisation secondary to a variety of conditions, some mild for example corneal epitheliopathy, atopic disease, rosacea keratitis to more severe conditions such as diabetic rubeotic glaucoma and herpetic keratitis. The authors found that five out of six eyes with active corneal vascularisation treated with topical doxycycline showed attenuation and shortening in blood vessels. Although this is a small case series this paper concludes that topical doxycycline could be used in therapy of corneal vascularisation where corticosteroids or anti vascular endothelial growth factor agents are contraindicated or have been ineffective. Further larger studies would be useful to determine the true effectiveness of topical doxycycline on a larger variety of patients with corneal vascularisation, including corneal graft patients.

The effect of topical doxycycline on corneal neovascularisation.
Jovanovic V, Nikolic L.
CURRENT EYE RESEARCH
2014;39(2):142-8.