Meibomian gland dysfunction patients with novel Sjögren’s syndrome biomarkers benefit significantly from a single vectored thermal pulsation procedure: a retrospective analysis

Alice T Epitropoulos,1,2 Krysta Goslin,2 Raman Bedi,3 Caroline A Blackie4 1Ophthalmic Surgeons and Consultants of Ohio, The Eye Center of Columbus, 2The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Columbus, OH, USA; 3Iris Advanced Eye Centre, Chandigarh, India; 4TearScience Inc., Morrisville, NC, USA Purpose: To measure the effects from a single vectored thermal pulsation treatment of the meibomian glands on dry eye signs and symptoms in patients who tested positively versus negatively for novel Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) biomarkers. Methods: The retrospective study included the deidentified data of 102 eyes of 59 patients with dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), who were also tested for novel biomarkers for SS and underwent a single 12-minute LipiFlow thermal pulsation procedure. All patients were already being treated with individualized dry eye therapy but remained symptomatic. Meibomian gland secretion (MGS) scores, Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire scores and tear breakup times (TBUTs) before and 8 weeks after thermal pulsation treatment were analyzed. Results: Twenty-three patients tested positive for novel biomarkers of SS and 36 patients tested negative. At baseline, MGS, SPEED and TBUT of both SS-positive and SS-negative patients were equivalent. At 8 weeks’ post-treatment, mean MGS score, SPEED and TBUT were 13.0±7.8, 12.5±6.8 and 9.6±4.6, respectively, in SS-positive patients and 15.9±7.9, 10.0±6.3 and 8.3±4.6, respectively, in SS-negative patients (P<0.001). While the post-treatment MGS was significantly better in SS-negative patients than SS-positive (P=0.021), no significant difference between post-treatment SPEED and TBUT was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: LipiFlow treatment in MGD patients who were SS-positive for novel biomarkers of SS demonstrated imp