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The effect of topical heparin for treatment of dry eye in primary Sjögren syndrome

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First Author: T.Loureiro PORTUGAL

Co Author(s):    S. Rodrigues-Barros   D. Lopes   A. Carreira   F. Moraes   A. Vide-Escada   N. Campos     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To assess the effect of topical heparin on the symptoms and signs of Primary Sjögren Syndrome associated dry eye.

Setting:

This is a prospective single-bling study.

Methods:

Sjögren Syndrome patients with dry eye symptoms and not on treatment with artificial tears over the past 6 months were included. Left eyes were treated with 1mg/1mL of sodium hyaluronate (AT) whereas right eyes were treated with 1mg/1mL of sodium hyaluronate plus 1300IU/mL of sodium heparin (TH), 4 times per day for 4 weeks. Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), SICCA OSS, Schirmer test 1 (ST1), tear break-up time (TBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH) and lipid layer thickness (LLT) were evaluated at the baseline and after treatment.

Results:

Forty eyes were included. Twenty eyes received AT and twenty eyes received TH. There were no differences at the baseline. Unlike TBUT, TMH and LLT, ST1 and SICCA OSS improved in both groups (p<0.01). After treatment, SICCA OSS was inferior in TH compared to AT group (p=0.01). The majority of patients improved OSDI score and reported more improvement in the eye treated with TH. There were no important side effects reported.

Conclusions:

Our study shows the benefits of treating patients, regardless of heparin use, with Sjögren Syndrome associated dry eye. Treatment with topical heparin seems to be safe and effective. Although it did not provide a significant subjective improvement compared to an artificial tear without heparin, an objective improvement was observed. Our results may herald a promising role of the heparin containing artificial tear in Sjögren Syndrome dry eye disease.

Financial Disclosure:

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