Single Meibomian Gland Treatment Reduces MGD Signs, Symptoms for 1 Year

A single meibomian gland treatment, which consists of controlled heat combined with manual gland expression, reduces the signs and symptoms of meibomian gland dysfunction for up to 1 year, according to a study published in Optometry and Vision Science.

Researchers included 78 patients (average age, 65.6 years; women, 64) from a single-center practice in the retrospective investigation. Patients underwent dry eye symptom assessments using the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire and meibomian gland expression scores at baseline and follow-up visits conducted at 2, 6, 12, and 18 months. The team assessed the efficacy of the single meibomian gland treatment and sought associations with age, race, and sex.

After undergoing the single meibomian gland treatment, baseline SPEED score improved from 14 to 7.9 at 8 weeks (P <.001), the report shows. This score was maintained at 6 and 12 month follow-up visits (7.7 and 7.9, respectively), but worsened to 8.9 at the 18-month visit. Despite this worsening, patients experienced a 37% reduction in SPEED score from baseline (P <.001) at 18 months.

Meibomian gland expression values were 4.9 and 4.8 at baseline in the right and left eyes, respectively, and these values improved to 9.0 in both eyes at 8 weeks. The mean meibomian gland expression scores were maintained at 6 months in the right and left eyes (8.6 and 8.2, respectively) and at 12 months (7.8 OU), before decreasing to 6.8 and 7.0 in the right and left eyes, respectively at 18 months. 

The study authors stress that the single meibomian gland treatment “may successfully reduce the symptoms and signs of meibomian gland dysfunction for an extended duration with no other interventional therapy.”

“This study provided strong indications of the ability to improve the meibomian gland dysfunction symptoms (SPEED questionnaire) and signs (gland function as measured by expressibility) by localized controlled heating followed by meibomian gland expression and demonstrate the maintenance of clinically significant improvements for a duration of 12 months,” the researchers explain.

Study limitations include a short follow-up period, single-center design, and a limited sample size.

Disclosure: This research was supported by Sightsciences, Inc. One study author declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.