Autologous Serum for Dry Eyes

There are many patients suffering from chronic dry eyes due to prior surgeries, medications and autoimmune disease. Many of these patients will not be able to obtain relief from over the counter lubricating eye drops. A well designed and fit scleral lens will provide great relief to this very “high need” patient population. This is because a scleral lens will keep the front surface of the eye in a moist environment. Occasionally however, a scleral lens will not provide the level of comfort that the dry eyed patient is seeking.

With this group of patients, autologous blood serum tears (serum tears for short) have been known to provide significant improvement in patients’ symptoms. Serum tears are made from the patient’s own blood and are composed of a complex mix of growth factors, proteins, antioxidents and lipids. Because the serum tears are made from the patient’s own blood, they
will closely mimic their own natural tears. Many of our patients suffering from ocular surface disease, are wearing scleral lenses and using blood serum tears when not wearing their lenses.

The following three images use a special dye to highlight defects on the cornea. Each of these eyes might benefit from autologous serum