Bandage Contact Lenses versus Deproteinized Calf Blood Extract Eye Gel for Recurrent Corneal Erosion Syndrome: A Case-Control Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients

Case Characteristics	BCLs Group	Drug Group	P value
Cases	24	23	–
Eyes	26	24	–
Gender (M: F)	14:10	12:11	0.671#
Age (years)
Range	18–65	22–71
Mean (Mean±SD)	40.38±13.45	42.48±13.93	0.601*
Number of previous episodes
Range	3–11	2–9
Mean (Mean±SD)	5.85±2.66	5.42±2.08	0.531*
Time from trauma to initial onset (months)
Range	1–12	2–12
Mean (Mean±SD)	6.47±3.18	5.85±3.23	0.614*
Time from diagnosis of EBMD to initial onset (months)
Range	2–10	3–9
Mean (Mean±SD)	6.00±3.03	6.40±2.41	0.817*
Size of corneal erosion			0.598^#
Number of eyes with microerosions at recruitment	10	11
Number of eyes with macroerosions at recruitment	16	13
Causes of RCES			0.885^#
Traumatic	15	13
EBMD	6	5
Other/Unknown	5	6

Notes: *Independent Sample t-test. ^#Chi-square test.

Abbreviations: EBMD, epithelial basement membrane dystrophy; RCES, recurrent corneal erosion syndrome.

Table 2 Comparison of Cure Rates and Improvement Rates at After 3 Months of Treatment Between the Two Groups of Patients (Eyes, %)

Group	Eyes	Cure	Improve	Invalid
BCLs group	26	22 (84.6)	14 (58.3)	0 (0)
Drug group	24	4 (15.4)	10 (41.7)	0 (0)
p-value		0.039

Table 3 Comparison of Corneal Healing Time, Visual Recovery Time and BCVA After Treatment Between the Two Groups of Patients (Mean±SD)

Group	Corneal Healing Time (Weeks)	Vision Recovery Time (Weeks)	BCVA at Baseline (LogMAR)	BCVA at 3M After Treatment (LogMAR)
BCLs group	4.77±4.51	5.46±4.43	0.33±0.09	0.03±0.08
Drug group	9.83±5.93	10.33±6.12	0.30±0.10	0.14±0.12
p-value	0.002	0.003	0.398	0.001

Abbreviations: BCVA, best-corrected visual acuity; LogMAR, logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution.

Table 4 Pain Scores at Different Time Points Before and After Treatment in Two Groups of Patients (Mean±SD, Points)

Group	Eyes	Before Treatment	1M After Treatment	2M After Treatment	3M After Treatment
BCLs group	26	8.13±1.23	3.28±1.15	1.90±0.77	0.90±0.66
Drug group	24	7.97±1.62	4.54±0.89	2.43±0.93	1.12±0.62
p-value		0.696	0.000	0.034	0.242

Table 5 Recurrence After Complete Resolution (Number of Eyes, %)

Follow-Up	BCLs Group (n=26)	Drug Group (n=24)	P value
Complete resolution at 3 months of treatment	22 (84.6)	14 (58.3)	0.039^#
Without recurrence over the follow up	20 (90.9)	8 (57.1)	0.026^†
Recurrence in 3 months after treatment	0 (0)	1 (7.1)	–
Recurrence in 3–6 months after treatment	0 (0)	3 (21.4)	–
Recurrence in 6–12 months after treatment	1 (4.5)	2 (14.2)	–
Recurrence in 12–18 months after treatment	1 (4.5)	0 (0)
Recurrence without corneal abnormalities	1 (50*)	0 (0*)	–
Recurrence with both symptoms and signs	1 (50*)	6 (100*)	–
Recurrences relieved by ocular lubricants	2 (100*)	3 (50*)	–
Recurrences required further treatment	0 (0*)	3 (50*)	–

Notes: ^#Chi-square test. ^†Fisher’s exact test. *The number of relapses at each period as a percentage of the total number of relapses in each group.