Atteinte herpétique du segment antérieur

Herpetic ocular infection is frequent and induces vision loss due to spontaneous recurrences. The virus can be detected by direct examination, cell culture, local antibodies detection or PCR, but the most specific technique remains the cell culture. As a result of recent advances in the diagnosis of different kinds of herpetic keratitis, adequate treatment may be proposed today, adapted to each patient. Such treatments depend on the predominant infectious or inflammatory mechanisms. Antiviral drugs are more efficient and less toxic. Therefore, preventive therapy can be proposed to patients with many recurrences of the disease. The effectiveness of such prevention has been shown in patients treated with long term acyclovir. Research focuses now on those new therapeutic strategies that act on inflammatory phenomena, such as interferon, ciclosporin, and vaccination. The improvement in herpetic treatment will certainly reduce the corneal grafts for herpetic keratitis.