[Trifluorothymidin-prophylaxis of dendritic keratitis in steroid-treated herpetic keratouveitis (author's transl)].

In a randomized double-blind study trifluorothymidine was tested for its ability to prevent dendritic keratitis at a dose of 5 drops daily in patients with steroid-treated herpetic keratouveitis. The corneal epithelium of all 56 patients in the study was free of viral foci prior to initiation of therapy. In the placebo- "protected" group, 6 of 28 patients developed virologically confirmed dendritic keratitis while they were under steroids, whereas all 28 trifluorothymidine-protected patients showed uneventful courses of their steroid regimes. No clinically relevant side-effects of trifluorothymidine prophylaxis were observed in this study.