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August 25, 2020
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Warm compress treatment may significantly improve tear film stability

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Patients who underwent a single 5-minute warm compress therapy experienced improved ocular surface characteristics, according to a poster at the virtual Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium.

“Attention to the ocular surface is key to achieving optimal outcomes in refractive cataract surgery. Easy-to-use at-home treatments can play an important role in prepping the tear film prior to topography, biometry and keratometry measurements for surgical planning,” study author Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS, told Healio/OSN.

Matossian evaluated 54 eyes of 27 patients who underwent a 5-minute bilateral application of a heated Bruder mask (Bruder Healthcare) and its effect on pre- and post-color LED topographer imaging. She also evaluated tear osmolarity and MMP-9 changes.

Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS

Thirty-nine eyes had an unstable tear film before the heated compress treatment, while 15 eyes had a stable tear film. After treatment, 24 eyes remained unstable, but there was an increase in the number of stable tear film eyes to 30. Based on all eyes studied, patients were three times more likely to have a more stable tear film after warm compress therapy.

Additionally, 14 patients wore contact lenses. Eleven eyes in this cohort presented with an unstable tear film, but after the warm compress treatment, the number of stable tear film eyes increased from three to seven.