Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of a combination of corticosteroid eyedrops and artificial tears in the treatment of dry eyes in the convalescent viral keratitis. Design Retrospective case series. Participants This study involved 52 eyes of 43 consecutive patients with dry eyes who had recovered from viral keratitis after routine treatment between June 2008 and August 2011. The average age was 35.28±11.62 (17~59) years old. Method The patients were given artificial tears without preservative 4 times per-day and corticosteroid eyedrops 3 times per-day. For all patients, the tear film break-up time (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining score (FL) and Schirmer I test (SIT) were evaluated before and 7，14，and 28 days after initiating the treatment. Main Outcome Measures BUT, FL and SIT. Results All patients completed the study until its end. The BUT, FL and SIT were improved at all time points. Symptoms completely resolved in some patients. During treatment, the SIT increased from 6.40±2.31 mm to 14.58±2.81 mm （P=0.000）, the FL score decreased from 7.52±2.78 to 0.14±0.26 （P=0.000） and the BUT increased from 7.63±0.90 s to 11.53±1.78 s （P=0.000）. Conclusion Corticosteroid eyedrops combined with artificial tears without preservative were helpful and effective in the treatment of dry eyes in the convalescence phase of virus keratitis. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2013, 22: 101-104)

Key words:  virus keratitis, dry eye； corticosteroid , artificial tears