INTRAOCULAR INJECTION OF RECOMBINANT HIRUDIN TO PREVENT EXPERIMENTAL POSTOPERATIVE FIBRIN

Purpose: To test the efficacy of a single intraocular injection of var ious doses of recombinant desulphatohirudin variant 1 (Revasc) in a ra bbit model after lensectomy-vitrectomy surgery. Methods: Standard frag matome lensectomies and core vitrectomies were performed on Dutch Belt ed rabbits, In a masked fashion, 17 control eyes received single intra ocular injections of lactated Ringer's solution, and the treated eyes, with eight eyes per treatment group, received single intraocular inje ctions of hirudin at doses of 0.02 mu g, 2 mu g, 10 mu g, 50 mu g, or 200 mu g, Results: Intraocular injections of hirudin were effective in preventing postoperative fibrin formation at doses of 2 mu g. There w as no notable intraoperative bleeding. With an injection of 2.0 mu g h irudin there was no hemorrhage at any time after surgery; with an inje ction of 200 mu g hirudin, however, there was notable bleeding. Conclu sion: Hirudin is effective in the prevention of postoperative fibrin f ormation with a single intraocular injection of 2.0 mu g after lensect omy-vitrectomy surgery in the rabbit model, There was no bleeding at t he effective dose of 2.0 mu g; at 100 times the effective dose, howeve r, there was significant postoperative bleeding.