A clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has concluded that a single dose of azithromycin taken by mouth after surgery reduces by one-third the recurrence of a vision-threatening eyelid condition called trichiasis. This is in contrast to the usual six-week regimen of tetracycline ointment applied directly to the eye. This study is published in the March 2006 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.