Remicade and RCE

[rcdrabyk]

My wife receives Remicade (infliximab) every 8 weeks, recently after fighting  a cold/flu she was diagnosed with RCE and has gone through a number of ointments etc from her optometrist.   She has another appointment Friday and may be referred to an ophthalmologist for more treatment options.    The concern is she is scheduled in the next day or two for a Remicade infusion ( treating UC).   Her concern is "will the remicade adversely affect the healing of the eye with RCE?".    Question was posed to her GI doctor and they have not offered an opinion.   Optometrist does not know, and ophthalmologist will not respond b/c she is not yet a patient.    The remicade infusion has been delayed once already (due to illness) and we do not want to delay the infusion any longer than necessary and risk a UC flare up.   Any information on RCE and the affects of infliximab would be appreciated.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The RCE article is on the John C. Hagan III MD blog (found under Experts Column) on page 4 of the blogs.
JCH MD

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Use the search feature and archives and read the many posts on the treatment of recurrent corneal erosions (RCE).  Also I have on my blog an article of treatment of same.  

RCE are extremely common in the practice of ophthalmology and most cases occur in relatively healthy people in relatively healthy eyes that just have a scratch on the cornea that did not heal right or who have a mild dystrophy of the superficial layer of the cornea.

There are no studies on RCE and remicade.  Anything you are told would be speculation. Since the other physicians taking care of her feel the medication is extremely important and have major health implications you may want to follow their advice as they have data on her health problems and the medication; learn more about the treatment of RCE and step up your therapy
The primary treatment of RCE involves OTC medications as outlined in the blog article.

JCH MD.

[rcdrabyk]

Her  UC doctor's office finally returned my call.    Their opinion is that she really needs to receive her Remicade infusion this week (a week late).  They emphasized that going too long may result in her body forming antibodies which could prevent Remicade from working.       Her optometrist was unsure and the referred to ophthalmologist has not seen her yet.     The GI doctor treating her UC, emphasized that getting her Remicade infusion as soon as possible was essential to maintaining her clinical remission.   My wife's big concern was the effect of the Remicade on the corneal condition.    

[rcdrabyk]

Recurrent Corneal Erosion   (epithelial) , first episode been just under 2 weeks.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I dislike acronyms without writing out the full name the first time. What are you referring to as RCE?