Zoster Eye Disease Study

The lifetime risk of herpes zoster is estimated to be 20% to 30%, of whom approximately 10% will have involvement of the trigeminal nerve, known as herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO). Eye involvement with HZO includes keratitis, anterior uveitis, and scleritis, and can result in substantial morbidity, as the eye lesions may be recurrent or chronic in nature. Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a difficult-to-manage and debilitating pain syndrome. As such, treatments are needed to prevent recurrences and/or manage chronic eye disease and to manage PHN. The Zoster Eye Disease Study was a double-masked randomized clinical trial comparing low-dose valacyclovir (1000 mg per day) with placebo for HZO eye disease and tested 2 hypotheses: (1) that chronic low-dose valacyclovir would decrease recurrences of HZO eye disease and (2) that it would decrease the prevalence of PHN. In this issue of JAMA Ophthalmology, the Zoster Eye Disease Study (ZEDS) Trial Research Group reports the results of the trial on these outcomes.

This post was originally published on this site