Treatment of corneal xerophthalmia with topical retinoic acid.

Retinoic acid 0.1% in arachis oil was applied to one eye and arachis oil alone to the other eye, of each of 19 patients with equivalent degrees of corneal xerophthalmia in the fellow eyes. Even with concomitant systemic vitamin A therapy, topical retinoic acid was associated with more rapid healing of corneal lesions in a substantial proportion of cases. Application of retinoic acid three times a day produced no significant side effects; application five times a day, however, resulted in moderate to severe conjunctival injection and increased corneal vascularization and scarring.