Abstract
Purpose :
Meibomian gland dysfunction is a chronic common disease which is associated with meibomian gland obstruction and atrophy. We conducted the study to investigate that automated thermodynamic treatment is effective and safe for the dry eye patients with meibomian gland dysfunction.
Methods :
This is a prospective clinical trial. Twenty five patients (50 eyes) with meibomian gland dysfunction received 15-minute automated thermodynamic treatment using the KCL1100® device twice a day. Patient symptoms were evaluated at pre-treatment (baseline) and 2-week, 1-month post-treatment prospectively using Standard Patient Evaluation for Eye Dryness (SPEED) and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Status of corneal surface was measured with tear break up time (TBUT), and NEI cornea staining score. Severity of meibomian gland dysfunction was measured with Meibomian Gland Expressibility (MGE), Meibomian Gland Secretion score (MGS), and lipid layer thickness (LLT). Visual acuity and intraocular pressure were measured to evaluate safety of automated thermodynamic treatment.
Results :
Dry eye symptoms (mean SPEED 13.2±6.1 to 5.9±4.8 ; p<0.001, mean OSDI 35.4±25.4 to 8.8±9.9; p<0.001), severity of meibomian gland dysfunction (mean MGE 3.1±1.8 to 8.6±2.1 ; p<0.001, mean MGS 4.1±3.1 to 15.4±6.4; p<0.001), and status of corneal surface (TBUT 2.6±1.3 to 3.7±2.0; p<0.001, NEI cornea staining score 0.8±0.9 to 0.2±0.5; p<0.001) were all significantly improved at 1-month post-treatment compared to baseline. Improvement was higher in patients with more severe dry eye (high SPEED, OSDI; p<0.05) and meibomian gland dysfunction (low LLT, MGE; p<0.05) at baseline. Furthermore, improvement of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGE) is related with corneal surface status (TBUT, NEI ; p<0.05), but not related with dry eye symptoms (SPEED, OSDI ; p>0.05).
Conclusions :
The results showed that automated thermodynamic treatment is effective and safe to dry eye with meibomian gland dysfunction. In addition, it is more effective to patients with severe symptoms. Improvement of dry eye symptom during thermodynamic treatment is not associated with opening of meibomian gland.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.