Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of deproteinized calf blood extract eye gel on corneal injury reparation after nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy. Methods A retrospective study was made for 97 patients who had received radiation therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma between January 2007 and December 2009 in Huaian First Peoples Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, with the radiation dose was more than 50 Gy. The right and left eyes were divided into the treatment and control groups,the deproteinized calf blood extract eye gel was given in the treatment group. The corneal endothelial cell densities, size, hexagonal cell ratio, and coefficient of variation were ddtermined at pre-treatment and post-treatment 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, a year and 2 years in the two groups. All data were analyzed by statistical analysis software SPSS 12.0. Results At 1 month and 3 months after the treatment, the corneal endothelial cell density of the treatment group was significantly increased compared with the control group, the average corneal endothelial cell area was significantly reduced, the coefficient of variation of corneal endothelial cells was significantly decreased, the hexagonal cells of corneal endothelial cells were significantly increased, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). At post-treatment 3 months, changes of corneal endothelial cells in the control group began to decrease, while those in the treatment group was close to the pre-treatment state compared with the control group. The two groups had no differences in the rest time after radiotherapy. Conclusion Using deproteinized calf blood extract eye gel pre-treatment and post-treatment can help to reduce the damage to corneal endothelium and promote reparation of corneal endothelial cells.

Key words: Deproteinized calf blood extract eye gel, Radiotherapy, Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Corneal endothelial cells