Tear Film Lipid Layer Changes Following Combined Effect of Heated Eye Mask with Intense Pulsed Light Therapy for Evaporative Dry Eye: A Randomized Control Study
Liangzhe Li, Jiayan Chen, Guanghao Qin, Yifan Qi, Yimeng Chen, Mingze Li, Qing Zhang, Yuan Cheng, Naici Guo, Salissou Moutari, Jonathan Edward Moore, Sile Yu, Xingru He, Emmanuel Eric Pazo
Abstract
Background: Dry eye disease (DED) is a complex ocular surface inflammatory disorder with a multifactorial etiology. Therapies such as intense pulsed light (IPL) and heated eye mask (HEM) have been reported to improve the tear film lipid layer (TFLL) and signs and symptoms of DED. Methods: This randomized study aimed to compare the effects of IPL combined with HEM (IPL+HEM) group, IPL group, and control group in participants with evaporative DED. All participants were examined at baseline (D0), day 21 (D21), day 42 (D42), and day 84 (D84) for noninvasive tear breakup time (NITBUT), TFLL, corneal conjunctival staining (CS), meibomian gland quality (MGQ), meibomian gland expressibility (MGEx), and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Results: The mean age of participants was IPL+HEM: 28.06 ± 3.88 years, IPL: 29.88 ± 4.68 years, and control: 28.52 ± 3.77 years. At D84, significant improvements in TFLL ( p < 0.05), noninvasive tear breakup time (NITBUT) ( p < 0.05), corneoconjunctival staining (CS) ( p < 0.05), MGQ ( p < 0.05), MGEx ( p < 0.05), and OSDI ( p < 0.05) were found in the IPL+HEM and IPL groups, whereas the control group had no significant improvements. Furthermore, ΔTFLL significantly correlated with ΔNITBUT ( r = −0.678, p < 0.001), ΔCS ( r = 0.321, p < 0.001), ΔMGQ ( r = 0.669, p < 0.001), ΔMGEx ( r = 0.598, p < 0.001), and ΔOSDI score ( r = 0.649, p < 0.001). Conclusions: IPL therapy in combination with HEM and IPL therapy only can significantly improve the quality of TFLL and clinically reduce the sign and symptoms of evaporative DED. However, IPL therapy in combination with HEM was found to be more effective than IPL therapy alone.
Keywords: evaporative dry eye disease; tear film lipid layer; intense pulsed light therapy; meibomian gland dysfunction; meibomian gland expressibility; Ocular Surface Disease Index; combination therapy; ocular surface inflammation
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How to cite
@article{li2023tear,
title = {{Tear Film Lipid Layer Changes Following Combined Effect of Heated Eye Mask with Intense Pulsed Light Therapy for Evaporative Dry Eye: A Randomized Control Study}},
author = {Li, Liangzhe and Chen, Jiayan and Qin, Guanghao and Qi, Yifan and Chen, Yimeng and Li, Mingze and Zhang, Qing and Cheng, Yuan and Guo, Naici and Moutari, Salissou and Moore, Jonathan Edward and Yu, Sile and He, Xingru and Pazo, Emmanuel Eric},
journal = {Photobiomodulation Photomedicine and Laser Surgery},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1089/photob.2023.0051},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1089/photob.2023.0051},
}
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