DEVICE CAN TREAT MGD

An innovative eyelid warming device offers a simple and effective treatment of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD), a study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests.

Eyelid warming therapy is considered the mainstay of treating MGD. Currently, however, there are no standardised eyelid warming procedures described in the scientific literature.

Significant patient compliance issues relate to insufficient heating, duration and frequency of treatment, and there have been a number of attempts to develop a commercial device to provide a stable warming temperature and ease of use.

The incidence of dry eye is very significant and is on the rise, largely due to increased ‘screen time’ and less blinking.

However, despite the discomfort it causes patients, dry eye is not being adequately addressed by the ophthalmic community, Teifi James FRCOphth, consultant ophthalmologist and surgeon, West Yorkshire, England, and creator of the MGDRx EyeBag®, told EuroTimes.

Twenty-five patients with confirmed MGD-related evaporative dry eye were enrolled in a randomised, single masked, contralateral clinical trial. Test eyes received a heated device - the MGDRx EyeBag®, and control eyes used a non-heated device for five minutes, twice a day for two weeks.

Efficacy (ocular symptomology, non-invasive break-up time, lipid layer thickness, osmolarity, Meibomian gland dropout and function) and safety (visual acuity, corneal topography, conjunctival hyperaemia and staining) measurements were taken at baseline and follow-up. Subsequent patient device usage and ocular comfort was ascertained at six months.

After two weeks, statistically significant improvements occurred in all efficacy measurements in test eyes (p<0.05). Visual acuity and corneal topography were unaffected. All patients maintained higher ocular comfort after six months, although the benefit was greater in those who continued usage of the MGDRx EyeBag® one to eight times a month.

The study found that the subjective benefit of the MGDRx EyeBag® lasted at least six months, aided by occasional retreatment. Thus, the device appears to offer an effective and standardised solution to dry eye that is easy for patients to use, with high compliance, the authors conclude.

Dr James said these results show the MGDRx EyeBag® provides safe effective relief without using any eye drops at all.

“Dry eye really is a significant quality-of-life issue for people who suffer from it. This is the first self-administered device that truly treats the condition as opposed to other treatments such as eye drops which just treat the symptoms,” he told EuroTimes.

He added that a separate study of 40 patients with Sjogren’s Syndrome who used the MGDRx EyeBag® found that 90 per cent reported a significant benefit because they have MGD too.

The EyeBag® is a reusable compress with one side made of thin pure silk and the other side made from 100 per cent thick brushed cotton ‘moleskin’. A typical treatment course would be five to ten minutes twice a day for two weeks, and then three or four times a week as symptoms dictate.

* The clinical study information is available online at:
http://bjo.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bjophthalmol-2014-305220?ijkey=S3Lz6LYaNsNot8u&keytype=ref.

Teifi James: eyebags@mac.com