Table 1 Definition of endpoints and cure/healing of the publications/report identified by systematic review

Colin [21]

Endpoints: Number of cures during treatment period, mean time to cure.

Definition of cure: the absence of epithelial ulceration after instillation of fluorescein using biomicroscopic examination.

Collum [22]

Endpoints: Days to heal and total number of subjects healed.

Definition of healing: Ulcers were considered to have healed when there was no fluorescein uptake. Ulcers that did not show improvement by day 4 were treated with ara-A ophthalmic ointment and withdrawn.

Coster [23]

Endpoints: Treatment failures, number of days it took ulcers to heal.

Definition of healing: no epithelial defect demonstrable with Rose Bengal and fluorescein staining

Hamard [24] GSK Report

Endpoints: cumulative cure rate, average healing time.

Definition of healing: Resolution of the ulcer based on fluorescein staining (inferred).

Kitano [25]

Endpoints: comparing treatment efficacy between study groups.

Definition of healing: Based on ulcer appearance over time; reported by categories, as follows: Excellent (ulcer disappeared within 7 days), Good (ulcer disappeared within 14 days or reduced by 50% within 7 days), Fair (ulcer reduced by 50% within 14 days), None (ulcers not reduced by 50% within 14 days).

Klauber [26]

Endpoints: Cumulative healing rates.

Definition of cure: The keratitis was judged to have been cured, at the time when there were no demonstrable epithelial defects by fluorescein and Rose Bengal and with the disappearance of the stromal affection and injection

McCulley [27]

Endpoints: Corneal epithelial healing is the primary measurement of efficacy.

Definition of healing: the observation of the absence of fluorescent staining and/or faint, segmented staining (“ghost figures”) in the area of previous corneal ulceration within the therapy period without recrudescence.