Background: Up to 1/3 of patients with herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) may develop ophthalmoplegia. Although zoster-related ophthalmoplegia (ZO) is typically treated with antiviral agents, there is controversy regarding the therapeutic role of systemic steroids.
Methods: This was a retrospective case series and case report-based systematic review. For the case series, participants were recruited from tertiary neuro-ophthalmology clinics. Eligible participants were those who developed cranial nerve palsies (CNP) within 1 month of HZO diagnosis. In the systematic review, all adults with ZO in the literature who were treated with antivirals or steroids only, or combination therapy were included. Main outcomes were initial presentation, investigations, neuroimaging, treatment regimen, and final outcomes of ophthalmoplegia.
Results: Eleven immunocompetent patients with ZO were included. The most common CNP was CN III (5/11), followed by CN VI (2/11) and CN IV (2/11). One patient had multiple CNPs. All patients were treated with antivirals, and 4 also treated with a short course of oral steroids. At 6-month follow-up, 75% of patients treated with combination therapy and 85.7% treated with antivirals alone had complete recovery of ZO. The systematic review identified 63 studies consisting of 76 cases of ZO. When comparing patients treated with antivirals with those treated with antivirals and steroids, patients on combination therapy had more severe ocular findings, including complete ophthalmoplegia (P < 0.001). Age was the only significant predictor of complete recovery of ophthalmoplegia on multivariable logistic regression (P = 0.037).
Conclusions: The rate of complete recovery in immunocompetent patients with ZO was similar in patients treated with antivirals alone vs those treated with antivirals and oral steroids. The systematic literature review affirmed these findings. However, age may influence recovery of ophthalmoplegia.
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