The use of the LipiView in clinical practice to identify patients with reduced meibomian gland function and dry eye

Session Details

Session Title: Imaging

Session Date/Time: Tuesday 16/09/2014 | 08:00-10:30

Paper Time: 09:10

Venue: Capital Hall B

First Author: : S.Fauquier FRANCE

Co Author(s): :    S. Lafont              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is currently understood to be the leading cause of dry eye through out the world. The diagnosis of dry eye disease (DED) has been and remains complicated by the lack of a single diagnostic test in which the clinician can have a high level of confidence. The poor repeatability of dry eye tests (signs) and the poor correlation between dry eye signs and symptoms continue to complicate diagnosis and management of dry eye.The goal of this study was to examine the possible relationship between the lipid layer thickness (LLT) (as measured by LipiView), meibomian gland function and dry eye symptoms.

Setting:

Centre OphtalmologiqueMonticelli – Marseille (France)

Methods:

Patients presenting consecutively for dry eye consultations between September 2013 and March 2014 were recruited (98 subjects (84 females and 14 males), 196 eyes). Patients completed the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire after which their average lipid layer thickness was measured with the LipiView. LipiView is the only commercially available instrument that provides the average lipid layer thickness of the tear film. Subsequent to the LipiView evaluation, the patients had their meibomian gland function assessed using the meibomian gland evaluator.

Results:

The mean age of the patients was 57.4 ±15.4 years with a range of 16-87 years. Linear regression analysis revealed that as meibomian gland function decreases, LLT decreases (r2 = 0.26, p < 0.0001), and dry eye symptoms increase (r2 = 0.02, p = 0.04). The results also show that as meibomian gland function decreases, symptoms increase (r2 = 0.02, p = 0.03).

Conclusions:

This is the first report to show that lipid layer thickness measured by the LipiView correlates with dry eye symptoms and meibomian gland function. The study also confirms previously published reports showing that meibomian gland function collected in a standardized manner with the meibomian gland evaluator correlates negatively with dry eye symptoms. These findings are important since the diagnosis of dry eye remains complicated by the lack of a single test in which the clinician can have high confidence.

Financial Interest:

NONE