title: Systematic approach to managing vernal keratoconjunctivitis in clinical practice: Severity grading system and a treatment algorithm.
abstract: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis is an ocular allergy that is common in the pediatric age group. It is often chronic, severe, and nonresponsive to the available treatment options. Management of these children is difficult and often a dilemma for the practitioner. There is a need to simplify and standardize its management. To achieve this goal, we require a grading system to judge the severity of inflammation and an algorithm to select the appropriate medications. This article provides a simple and practically useful grading system and a stepladder algorithm for systematic treatment of these patients. Use of appropriate treatment modalities can reduce treatment and disease-related complications.
authors.affiliation: Gokhale Eye Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Nikhil S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Gokhale
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003233:Conjunctivitis, Allergic / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004338:Drug Combinations; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D016572:Cyclosporine; D016559:Tacrolimus