Clinical Experience with Trimethoprim - Sulfamethoxazole and Prednisolone in the Treatment of Ocular Toxoplasmosis with Zone -1 Posterior Pole and Peri-papillary Lesions

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of trimethoprim- sulfamethoxazole and oral prednisolone in the treatment of ocular toxoplasmosis with zone-1 posterior pole and peri-papillary lesions. METHODS Retrospective evaluation of records of patients in our tertiary care referral hospitals. RESULTS 22 eyes of 21 patients with active toxoplasma retino-choroiditis in zone -1 posterior pole and peri-papillary areas were included in the study. One patient developed active lesion in the fellow eye after 6 months which regressed after re-institution of the treatment. There were 11 females and 10 males. Age varied between 18–52 (mean age 29±8.8) years. The follow-up period varied between 4- 46 (mean 15±11) months. All patients showed resolution of retino-choroiditis and improvement of visual acuity between 1-9 lines (mean 4.18 lines± 2.3).The mean lesion size pre-treatment was 0.89 disc diameters±0.3 and post-treatment was 0.70 disc diameters±0.28. The mean time taken for the sharpening of lesion borders was 2.3±0.4 (range 2–3) weeks. No complications reported with the medication. CONCLUSION The combination of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and prednisolone is quite effective in treating the patients with active vision threatening posterior pole and peri-papillary toxoplasmosis lesions.