Abstract
Purpose :
In refractory cases of dry eye secondary to Sjögren’s syndrome, where lubricant and anti-inflammatory therapy has failed, autologous serum represents a promising therapy, but despite reported benefits in corneal staining, it remains unclear whether serum confers long-term symptomatic benefit. It also carries significant disadvantages; preparation and storage is expensive and cumbersome. We performed a prospective, observational cohort study to determine whether autologous blood might represent an alternative to autologous serum in the treatment of dry eye secondary to Sjögren’s syndrome.
Methods :
Patients with Sjögren’s syndrome were instructed to prick a clean finger with a lancet, and apply the drop of blood directly to the inferior conjunctival fornix 4 times daily for 8 weeks. Follow-up visits occurred at days 4, 14, 28 and 56, and 4 weeks post-cessation. Visual acuity, corneal staining, Schirmer’s test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and ocular comfort index (OCI) were measured. Results were analysed using Student’s paired t-test.
Results :
6 patients with Sjögren’s syndrome (12 eyes) were recruited. At 8 weeks, there was improvement in Oxford corneal staining grade (3.83 to 2.35 (p=0.0007)), and OCI score (56.67 to 24.20 (p=0.02)). There was no statistically significant change in mean visual acuity, Schirmer’s and TBUT. 4 weeks post-cessation, staining grade and OCI worsened. There were no complications.
Conclusions :
Our case series suggests autologous blood may represent an affordable, convenient alternative to autologous serum in patients with dry eye secondary to Sjögren’s syndrome.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.