Blephasteam® wet chamber warming goggles – a promising alternative to classical lid hygiene techniques

Purpose Posterior blepharitis is a main cause of dry eye. Lid hygiene is an important treatment, but compliance is often poor because of its complexity and lack of specific devices. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of wet chamber warming goggles (Blephasteam®) in patients with posterior blepharitis.

Methods In this interventional multicenter prospective uncontrolled study, patients with meibomian gland dysfunction were enrolled. Blephasteam® (Laboratoires Thea, Clermont-Ferrand, France) was used once or twice a day during 10 minutes, with a following lid massage. Main outcome measures were assessed at baseline and after 3 weeks, including symptoms (ocular discomfort on a visual analogic scale-primary endpoint, and separate symptoms), signs of blepharitis, Schirmer test, Break up time, corneal fluorescein vital staining, and tear osmolarity (measured with the Tearlab® system).

Results Thirty patients (16 women, 14 men), mean age 48 ± 22 years (4 to 82 years) were included. After 3 weeks of treatment, mean global visual analogic scale symptom score decreased by 15.2 ± 22 mm (range, +32 to -57 mm on a 100 mm scale)(p=0.004). Mean composite blepharitis score decreased by -3.5 points on the worst eye (range, +1 to -10 on a 20 points scale)(p<0,001). No change was observed for the other parameters among which BUT, IOP and tear osmolarity. Improvement rated by the patient was important in 48 % of cases, moderate in 36% and fair in 16%.

Conclusion Blephasteam® wet chamber warming goggles are a promising alternative to classical lid hygiene techniques. A multicenter extended study is ongoing.

 

Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1755-3768.2011.4174.x/abstract