Abstract
Purpose :
The temperature and blood flow of the ocular surface and peripheral tissue increase when conventional warm compresses are applied. We investigated the effect of thermal pulsation treatment (LipiFlow) on the temperature and blood flow in those areas in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).
Methods :
We recruited 13 eyes of 13 patients with MGD (mean age, 64.9±18.1 years) and measured the non-invasive tear break-up time (NIBUT), blood flow, and temperature before and 5 minutes after LipiFlow. The blood flow and temperature were measured in the anterior ocular segment, i.e., upper and lower eyelid skin and palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva. The blood flow was measured as the mean blur rate using laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG-OAS, Soft Care). The temperature was measured using ocular surface thermography (TG-1000, Tomey). The NIBUT was determined using tear film interferometry (DR-1 Alpha, Kowa).
Results :
The NIBUT of before and after 5 minutes after LipiFlow was 4.9±2.6 and 7.1±4.8 seconds. The NIBUT was significantly longer 5 minutes after LipiFlow compared to before (paired t-test, P<0.05). The temperature of the upper (34.29±0.52 and 35.49±0.26°C) and lower (33.93±0.60 and 35.13±0.48°C) eyelid skin and palpebral (34.51±0.37 and 35.63±0.41°C) and bulbar (34.61±0.43 and 35.82±0.47°C) conjunctiva increased significantly 5 minutes after LipiFlow compared with before LipiFlow (P<0.01 for both comparisons). The temperature differences of the upper and lower eyelid skin and palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva between before and after LipiFlow were 1.20°C, 1.21°C, 1.13°C, and 1.21°C, respectively. The blood flow in those areas (927.8±354.6 and 1104.8±352.6, 870.6±325.7 and 1273.3±610.9, 1840.7±676.6 and 2424.2±565.7, 287.5±78.1 and 358.9±105.1) also increased significantly 5 minutes after LipiFlow (P<0.05 for all comparisons). The rate changes in those areas between before and after LipiFlow were 124.5%, 144.5%, 188.1%, and 139.5%, respectively.
Conclusions :
LipiFlow resulted in significant increases in temperature and blood flow in the ocular anterior segment compared to before its use.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.