Many people don’t realize severe dry eyes can be a chronic condition and that often, conventional medications do not provide relief for patients.
Chronic Dry Eye Causes, Symptoms
Patients suffering with severe dry eyes may just not produce enough tears to remain comfortable, and supplementing natural tear production with artificial tears or lubricants is often inadequate. Many people have underlying medical issues which cause or worsen dry eye, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease. Others take medications which diminish tear production. The use of a patient’s own serum to create a drop for the eye has been reported as a new option for addressing ocular surface disorders.
How Autologous Serum Eye Drops (ASED) Work
Conventional therapies for severe dry eyes fail to heal the epithelial cells, which are the cells on the top layer of the cornea. The dry epithelial cells sometimes fall off of the cornea easily. Autologous serum comes from the patient’s own blood serum and plasma
(Source: clevelandclinic.org).
The fluid contains epithelium-promoting growth factors and becomes a good replacement for tears.
The meaning of autologous is that the donor and the recipient are the same person.
The eye drops in this case are made from your own blood. Red blood cells and clotting factors are removed, leaving behind blood serum. This is diluted with a sterile, preservative-free solution to produce a tear substitute that is unique to the patient, and contains many important growth factors and nutrients normally found in healthy tears.
Since blood and tears have an almost identical salinity and pH, there is no issue of burning or stinging upon usage. Because they are non-preserved, the drops are stored in the freezer until you need them.
How the Serum is Made
Upon receipt of the frozen serum, the sterile pharmacists will allow it to defrost in a controlled environment. Once defrosted the serum will be aseptically processed into eye drops in our ISO class 6 Isolated Clean Room in an advanced laminar flow hood. Eye drops will be 100% concentration, or as prescribed by your physician.
Town and Country Compounding aseptically filters the serum and transfers the serum into dropper bottles for use. If sufficient serum (48 mL or more) is supplied by the lab we will typically supply 12 vials containing 4 mL each. This is approximately a 3 month supply.
How does serum get to the pharmacy? Click Here
Town & Country Compounding produces ophthalmic solutions
Vancomycin Fortified Ophthalmic Solution
- We can compound strengths 12.5 mg/mL, 14 mg/mL, 25 mg/mL, 50 mg/mL (BUD = 14 days)
- Refrigeration Required
Additional ophthalmic medications we commonly compound:
- Acetylcysteine (5%, 10%)
- Albumin (4%, 5%)
- Atropine (0.01%, 0.02%, 0.025%, 0.1%, 0.125%)
- Cyclosporin MCT (0.1%-0.5%, 1%, 2%)
- Dexamethasone (0.01%, 0.1%)
- Edetate Disodium (EDTA) (1%, 2%, 3%)
- Glycerin (50%)
- Mitomycin (0.02% – 0.04%)
- Prednisolone (1%)
- Timolol (0.5%)
Tobramycin Fortified Ophthalmic Solution
- We can compound strengths 13 mg/mL-15 mg/mL (BUD = 14 days)
- Refrigeration Required
Other anti-microbial ophthalmic medications:
- Amikacin (2.5%)
- Cefazolin (50 mg/mL)
- Ceftazidime (5%)
- Chlorhexidine Digluconate (0.02% – 1%)
- Polyhexamethylene Biguanide (PHMB) (0.02%)
- Voriconazole (0.1 – 1%)
