Three different dry eye treatments reduce horizontal epithelial irregularity factor
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Key takeaways:
- There were no significant differences between the three treatments.
- No significant difference was seen in vertical epithelial irregularity factor for any treatment at any time.
Lubricating eye drops with a single-polymer or dual-polymer formulation and saline were all effective in reducing epithelial surface irregularity along the horizontal meridian in a study published in Optometry and Vision Science.
“The purpose of this study was to compare changes in epithelial irregularity factor in a population with symptoms of dry eye before and up to 4 weeks after treatment with two commercially available eye drops, a dual-polymer formulation containing hydroxypropyl guar and hyaluronic acid, and a single-polymer formulation containing hyaluronic acid, versus nonpreserved unit dose saline,” Jacqueline Tan, PhD, BOptom, and colleagues from the University of New South Wales Sydney wrote.
In the prospective, single-center, randomized, parallel-group dispensing study, 48 participants (mean age, 38.8 years; 31 women) with moderate to severe dry eye symptoms were randomly assigned to receive 0.15% hyaluronic acid with hydroxypropyl guar, 0.2% hyaluronic acid or saline in a 1:1:1 ratio.
Horizontal epithelial thickness irregularity factor (EIF) was significantly lower in all groups at all follow-up visits compared with baseline, but there were no significant differences between the three treatments. There was no significant difference in vertical EIF over time or between the three treatments. All treatment groups experienced a reduction in ocular symptoms, with no significant difference between the drops. No adverse events were reported, and levels of corneal fluorescein staining were low for all treatments at all visits.
“Future studies could include evaluation of the effects of different treatments on evaporative versus aqueous-deficient or mixed dry eye disease, as well as other measures such as confocal microscopy to evaluate the corneal cellular structure,” Tan and colleagues wrote.
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