Abstract
Purpose :
Dry eye syndrome (DES) secondary to Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) causes significant morbidity. Trials of blood-derived products (e.g. autologous serum, platelet-derived plasma) in treatment of the condition show promising results. However, their production is expensive and time-consuming. We investigate fingerprick autologous blood (FAB) as an alternative low-cost, readily accessible treatment for DES, and also for persistent epithelial defects (PED).
Methods :
Patients with recalcitrant DES/PED were instructed to clean a finger, prick with a blood lancet, and apply a drop of blood to the lower fornix of the affected eye(s), 4 times daily for 8 weeks. Follow-up visits occurred 4 days, 2, 4, 8 weeks into therapy, and 4 weeks post-cessation. At each visit, visual acuity, corneal staining, Schirmer’s test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and ocular comfort index (OCI) were measured, and photographs taken. Results were analysed using Student’s paired t-test.
Results :
8 DES patients (14 eyes) were recruited. At 8 weeks, there was improvement in mean visual acuity (logMAR 0.28 to 0.18 (p=0.02)), Oxford corneal staining grade (3.46 to 2.18 (p=0.006)), and OCI score (57.86 to 32.33 (p=0.02)). Schirmer’s and TBUT improved, without statistical significance. 4 weeks post-cessation, mean acuity, staining grade and OCI worsened. 2 PED patients showed resolution after 1 month. No complications were seen.
Conclusions :
In our limited case series FAB appears to be a safe and effective treatment for DES secondary to SS and PED.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.