Corneal melt in rheumatic disorders: effect of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs on morbidity.

Objective: The objective of this study was to review the characteristics of patients with corneal melt and to assess if treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) improved the visual outcome.

Method: We did a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with corneal melt between 1976 and 2002. Twenty-one patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 5 patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (26 patients, 42 eyes) were included in the analysis of visual outcome.