Abstract
Purpose :
Blood-derived products such as autologous serum and platelet-derived plasma are used in severe dry eye disease (DED), however production cost and accessibility limit their therapeutic potential. Finger-prick autologous blood (FAB) treatment is a novel intervention for DED in which patients extract a drop of blood from their fingertip and instil this into their eye. We conducted a multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT) to investigate FAB as an alternative low-cost, readily accessible treatment for DED.
Methods :
In a multi-center, randomized, single masked, controlled trial of FAB, 60 subjects with severe DED were randomized to receive either FAB four times daily (QID) and continue their conventional treatment or continue conventional treatment alone for 8 weeks. DED signs and symptoms were assessed at baseline, week 4 and week 8. Patients in the FAB group also went a qualitative interview exploring patient perspectives on the treatment.
Results :
The FAB group had a statistically superior improvement in the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) score of 23.82 versus 6.86 in the control group (p<0.05) at week 8. There were also greater improvements in Oxford Corneal Surface Grade, Schirmer's and Tear Breakup Time in the FAB group versus control (p>0.05). In the qualitative interviews, patients gave FAB a mean score of 2.10 for usability on a rating scale with 1 being ‘very easy’ and 5 being ‘very difficult’. Patients scored the overall beneficial effect of FAB on their quality of life of 3.55 with 1 being ‘no effect’ and 5 being ‘very significant effect’. All patients in FAB group were willing to recommend the treatment in the friend and family test.
Conclusions :
FAB is a novel and readily accessible alternative to autologous serum which was statistically superior to conventional treatment in improving patient symptoms as per the OSDI in severe DED. In addition, FAB was readily accepted and recommended by patients with severe DED. No adverse safety events were identified.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.