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Dual polymer tear relieves symptoms in evaporative, aqueous-deficient dry eye
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SEATTLE – Patients with evaporative or non-evaporative dry eye experienced improvement in signs and symptoms after treatment with a carboxymethylcellulose/hyaluronic acid dual polymer artificial tear, according to a study reported here at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
Peter A. Simmons, PhD, senior director of clinical development, ophthalmology, for Allergan, and colleagues evaluated 327 patients enrolled in two clinical trials and classified them as having either evaporative dry eye (EDE) or non-EDE based on tear break-up time (TBUT), Schirmer’s test and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) score. Less than one-third of all patients were classified as having EDE. Patients with non-EDE were aqueous deficient and also had mixed etiology.
At baseline, both groups had similar levels of OSDI, visual analog scales and TBUT, but corneal and conjunctival staining was lower in the EDE group, according to the study.
After 3 months of treatment with the dual polymer artificial tear, all signs and symptoms improved in both groups.
“There were trends towards greater improvements in dryness, grittiness/foreign body sensation and burning/stinging in the EDE group compared with the non-EDE group and greater improvements in corneal and conjunctival staining in the non-EDE group,” the researchers reported.
They determined that many evaporative dry eye patients also have a component of aqueous deficiency.
Simmons told Primary Care Optometry News: “The current poster came about as a result of a question from our customers: Since dry eye is broadly categorized into aqueous-deficient and evaporative subgroups, it would be useful to know whether a single treatment can be effective for both of these categories. Specifically, since Optive Fusion does not contain any lipid component, is it effective for evaporative patients who are generally thought to be lipid-deficient?”
Based on these study results, “clinicians can be confident that Optive Fusion will be an effective therapy for dry eye patients, regardless of etiology,” Simmons said. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO
Reference:
Simmons PA, et al. Definition and clinical characteristics of evaporative dry eye in a general population of dry eye patients. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting; May 1-5, 2016; Seattle.
Disclosure: Simmons is employed by Allergan.