Adverse Effects of Systemic Immunosuppression in Keratolimbal Allograft.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Ophthalmology Volume 2012, Article ID 576712, 5 pages doi:10.1155/2012/576712 Clinical Study Adverse Effects of Systemic Immunosuppression in Keratolimbal Allograft M. Krakauer, J. D. Welder, H. K. Pandya, N. Nassiri, and A. R. Djalilian Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1855 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA Correspondence should be addressed to A. R. Djalilian, adjalili@ Received 10 November 2011; Accepted 22 December 2011 Academic Editor: Andrew G. Lee Copyright © 2012 M. Krakauer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Purpose. Keratolimbal allograft (KLAL) is a treatment for limbal stem cell deficiency. One disadvantage is systemic immunosuppression to avoid rejection. Our purpose was to examine the adverse effects of systemic immunosuppression in KLAL. Methods. A retrospective case review of 16 patients with KLAL who received systemic immunosuppression consisting of a corticosteroid, an antimetabolite, and/or a calcineurin inhibitor was performed. Patients were monitored for signs, symptoms, or laboratory evidence of toxicity. Results. Twelve of 16 patients (75%) experienced an adverse effect. The average age of those with adverse effects was 50.0 years (SD 17.8) and those without was 23.6 years (SD: 14.3), which was statistically significant (unpaired t-test P = 0.022). Ten of 11 patients (91%) had resolution during mean followup of 16.4 months. No serious adverse effects occurred. The most common included anemia, hypergl