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The following is a summary of “Efficacy and safety of the disposable eyelid warming masks in the treatment of dry eye disease due to Meibomian gland dysfunction,” published in the August 2024 issue of Ophthalmology by Wang et al.

Warm compresses are commonly used to treat Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), but they often require long-term use to achieve satisfactory efficacy, which can be inconvenient for patients. 

Researchers conducted a prospective study evaluating how effective and safe disposable eyelid warming masks are for treating dry eye disease (DED) caused by MGD.

They conducted a randomized, controlled, non-masked, two-center trial with 144 patients using disposable masks or hot towels twice daily for 12 weeks. Patients were assessed at the start, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks for symptoms, signs, and safety, including ocular symptom scores, ocular surface disease index (OSDI), tear break-up time (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), Schirmer I test (SIT), meibum quality, meibum expressibility, and adverse events (AEs).

The result showed that the study followed 134 patients. The mask group had 14 males and 52 females with an average age of 43.7 years, while the hot towel group had 20 males and 48 females with an average age of 39.5 years. At 4 weeks, the mask group showed significant improvements in ocular symptoms, OSDI, and CFS (P<0.05). At 12 weeks, the mask group had better overall results except for SIT (P<0.05), with 40 AEs in 27 patients (37.5%) versus 34 AEs in 21 patients (29.17%) in the hot towel group. No severe AEs were reported.

Investigators concluded that the masks were effective and safe for treating DED from MGD and could be a great treatment option for some patients.

Source: bmcophthalmol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12886-024-03642-z