Study shows long-term benefits of localized heat therapy for dry eye disease

Localized heat therapy (LHT) provides lasting improvements in dry eye disease (DED) symptoms and signs for patients who had previously been treated with cyclosporine (CsA), according to a poster presented at the 2024 Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium.

A recent extension of the SAHARA trial, a Phase 2 study that evaluated the efficacy of a single LHT session (TearCare, Sight Sciences) in improving dry eye symptoms and signs in patients who had been on CsA for 6 months,

In this expansion of the SAHARA trial, a Phase 2 study that evaluated the efficacy of a single LHT session (TearCare, Sight Sciences) in improving dry eye symptoms and signs in patients who had been on CsA for 6 months, 164 patients (328 eyes) were switched to LHT and observed for an additional 6 months. Key outcome measures included tear break-up time (TBUT), ocular surface disease index (OSDI), and meibomian gland secretion score (MGSS).

Baseline TBUT increased from 4.4 seconds before CsA to 6.1 seconds at 12 months after LHT. OSDI scores improved from 50.0 at baseline to 31.0 at 12 months, and MGSS rose from 7.1 to 16.1. These results indicate that LHT not only maintained but also enhanced improvements in DED symptoms and signs beyond the initial CsA treatment period.

The study concludes that a single session of LHT can provide prolonged relief for DED, demonstrating superiority over CsA in clinical signs and comparable symptom relief, without requiring ongoing topical prescription therapy.

Reference
Rapoport Y, et al. Tear break-up, meibomian gland, and dry eye symptom improvement for cyclosporine-treated patients after localized heat therapy treatment. Poster Presented at: WIO 2024.