This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Workshop participants create consensus on meibomian gland dysfunction
The year-long effort has resulted in a new definition and diagnosis and treatment algorithms.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Members of the International Workshop on Meibomian Gland Dysfunction have completed a comprehensive report on the assessment, treatment and management of the disease scheduled to be published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science late this year or early 2011.
The workshop, sponsored by the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society, required more than 1 year to complete and involved 60 clinicians and researchers who specialize in dry eye, ocular surface disease and meibomian gland dysfunction. The group will present their research at the American Academy of Optometry meeting in San Francisco.
“Depending on the review process at IOVS, we hope to have an e-pub ahead of print by the end of the year. There will also be a five- to 10-page executive summary of the high-note topic areas and concepts of the report,” Kelly K. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, steering committee chair, told Primary Care Optometry News.
“Currently, there’s a lack of consensus about the terminology for meibomian gland dysfunction and how it relates to dry eye,” she said. “The coming report will include a new definition that did not exist before, new diagnosis and treatment algorithms and new data sets and charts that have been pulled from existing studies to summarize the literature in a way that it hasn’t been summarized before.”
The workshop set out to understand the meibomian gland in health and disease, use an evidence-based approach to evaluate the published literature and make recommendations on future basic and clinical research.
According to Dr. Nichols, each member of the workshop was selected to be on one of the seven subcommittees based upon their area of expertise. Subcommittees received their charge to evaluate their particular topic area, and groups met independently and at two large-scale conferences to continue to outline their reports, Dr. Nichols said.
“In each committee, the approach was to evaluate the literature and make recommendations as to the level of evidence,” Dr. Nichols said. “There was no independent research that was part of the report, but a number of individuals who have done current research are summarizing the field — and, specifically, their topic area — in their own unique way.” – by Stephanie Vasta
- Kelly K. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, is an associate professor at the Ohio State University College of Optometry and can be reached at 338 W. 10th Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43210; (614) 688-5381, fax: (614) 688-4474; KNichols@optometry.osu.edu.