Parasitic Ulcer Treatment Trial

Launched by JEREMY KEENAN, MD, MPH · Jan 9, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The Parasitic Ulcer Treatment Trial (PUTT) is a research study looking at how adding a certain type of medication called corticosteroids to the treatment for acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) can help improve vision. Acanthamoeba keratitis is an eye infection caused by a type of parasite that can lead to inflammation and discomfort. To participate in this trial, patients need to have signs of ocular inflammation after four weeks of standard treatment for AK. Eligible participants must be 21 years or older and show evidence of the infection through various medical tests.

If you join the trial, you'll be randomly placed into one of two groups: one group will receive the corticosteroid treatment, while the other group will receive a placebo, which looks like the actual medication but has no active ingredients. Throughout the trial, participants will be closely monitored to see how well their vision improves. It's important to note that some people may not qualify, such as those with certain other eye conditions or allergies to steroids. This study is currently recruiting participants, and you can expect a supportive environment with regular check-ins about your progress.

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Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • AK on at least one of the following: culture, smear, PCR, shotgun sequencing, biopsy, or confocal microscopy
• • Ocular inflammation after 1 month of anti-amoebic treatment, defined as conjunctival, corneal, episcleral, or anterior chamber inflammation
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Evidence or history of interstitial keratitis
• • Known herpetic keratitis, as determined from history, exam, or microbiological testing
• • Known fungal keratitis, as demonstrated from corneal scrapings
• • Corneal perforation or impending corneal perforation
• • Prior therapeutic keratoplasty for acanthamoeba keratitis
• • Unwillingness or inability to follow-up
• • No light perception in the affected eye
• • Known hypertensive response to steroids
• • Corticosteroid allergy
• • Concurrent treatment with systemic corticosteroids
• • Concurrent granulomatous amoebic encephalitis