Abstract

Purpose: To compare lid hygiene versus lid hygiene and microblepharoexfoliation (MBE) (BlephEx^®) in the treatment of Demodex folliculorum blepharitis.

Methods: This study was an Institutional Review Board approved randomized prospective single masked trial of 50 patients with microscopically proven Demodex blepharitis. All subjects received lid hygiene two times a day and half were randomized to in-office MBE treatment. All subjects at baseline and one month were evaluated for the total number of Demodex on 4 eyelashes, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), tear osmolarity, MMP-9, Schirmer 1, Non-invasive tear break-up time (NIBUT), lipid layer thickness, meibography, lissamine green staining, and eyelid margin exam.

Results: The total number of Demodex decreased by 3.88 from baseline to month 1 for the lid hygiene plus MBE group vs. 0.4 for the lid hygiene alone group (p < 0.001). NIBUT increased 1.1 seconds from baseline to month 1 for the lid hygiene plus MBE group vs. 2.8 seconds for the lid hygiene alone group (p = 0.52). All other measurements were similarly not statistically significantly different (lipid layer thickness, OSDI, Osmolarity, MMP-9, Schirmer 1, meibography, lissamine green staining, and eyelid margin exam).

Conclusion: Both lid hygiene plus MBE and lid hygiene alone decreased the amount of Demodex with the group receiving MBE showing a greater decrease that was statistically significant (p < 0.001). MBE may have a positive role in the treatment of Demodex blepharitis.

Keywords: Demodex folliculorum; Lid Hygiene Plus; Dry Eye Disease

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Citation

Citation: Michael B.Choi., et al. “Lid Hygiene Versus Lid Hygiene Plus Microblepharoexfoliation for the Treatment of Demodex folliculorumBlepharitis”.Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 3.9 (2020): 29-35.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Michael B.Choi and Rebecca Stein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.