Use of nicergoline as adjunctive treatment of neurotrophic keratitis in routine clinical practice: a case series

Purpose: To describe the effectiveness and safety of nicergoline in patients with epithelial corneal defect or corneal ulcer due to neurotrophic keratitis. Methods: A prospective case series review was performed in 14 patients (14 eyes) with neurotrophic keratopathy who started treatment with nicergoline as an off-label prescription from January to November of 2020. Patients with a epithelial defect or corneal ulcer due to neurotrophic keratitis were treated with 10 mg of oral nicergoline twice daily. Results/Serial cases: Complete corneal healing was observed in 10 (71.4%) of the 14 patients after 25.6 ± 26.60 days (range 7-90) with nicergoline. In three (21.5%) patients the wound healing was not achieved (all of them with autoimmune disease), and one patient (7.1%) was lost to follow-up. Eleven patients (79%) were females; the average age at consultation was 69 years (44-96). The mean time between diagnosis and the starting of nicergoline was 10.92 ± 8.85 days (0-28). No adverse effects of nicergoline were observed in any subject. Conclusion: Nicergoline as an adjunctive treatment for neurotrophic keratitis showed a potential use in the healing of epithelial defect with a good tolerance in real-life clinical practice. Introduction: