Drug contraindicated in dendritic keratitis is: March 2012: (A) 5% idoxuridine, (B) Cycloplegics, (C) Topical antibiotics, (D) Dexamethasone
Answer is D. Ans: D i.e. Dexamethasone The corneal involvement in herpes simplex virus infection can be epithelial (dendritic/ geographic keratitis), stromal (necrotizing & non-necrotizing stromal keratitis) & endothelial Drugs & epithelial keratitis Epithelial keratitis responds well to topical antivirals (5% IDU/ idoxuridine drops) which are prescribed along with topical antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infection, lubricants to relieve discomfo & cycloplegics It is uniformly accepted that topical steroids are contraindicated in the presence of active viral replication as occurs in herpes simplex epithelial keratitis