Treatment of Meibomian gland disease with the Lipiflow® system: A prospective study

Abstract

AbstractPurpose To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Lipiflow® in the treatment of meibomian gland disease (MGD).Methods Twenty eyes of 17 consecutive patients with MGD and evaporative dry eye were included in this study. MGD was associated with ocular rosacea in 58.8% of cases. There were 9 women (52.9%) and 8 men (47.1%) with a mean age of 58.1 ± 16.2 years (28‐82 years). Patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic evaluation including two symptoms questionnaires, SPEED® and ocular surface disease index (OSDI), tear film break‐up time (TBUT), Schirmer test, meibomian gland evaluation with the Meibomian Gland Evaluator® (MGE), tear film thickness measured with the Lipiview® Ocular Surface Interferometer and tear osmolarity (Tearlab®). Then all eyes were treated with the Lipiflow® system. All patients were evaluated before and one month after treatment.Results According to SPEED questionnaire, symptoms improved significantly one month after treatment (15.4 ± 4.9 vs. 12.7 ± 5.8; p<0.001). However, OSDI was not modified (22 ± 8.4 vs. 21.7 ± 9.5, p=0.06). After treatment, TBUT increased (3.1 ± 1.6 sec. vs. 5.8 ± 2.5 sec., p<0.001) and the number of functional meibomian glands was significantly higher (2.8 ± 1.1 versus 6.8 ± 2.3, p<0.001). Schirmer test (13.4 ± 12.2 vs. 15.1 ± 14, p=0.6) and tear film thickness (57.3 ± 21.8 µm vs. 62.5 ± 23 µm, p=0.15) were not modified after treatment. Similarly, no change was observed in tear osmolarity (321.3 ± 19.1 mOsm/mL versus 321.7 ± 24.1 mOsm/mL, p=0.79). No adverse effect was observed for any patient during treatment and follow‐up.Conclusion The use of the Lipiflow® system was safe and seemed to improve symptoms and some ocular surface parameters in eyes with MGD.