Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of Non-Invasive RF Treatment in Refractory MGD

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorThe University of Hong Kong

About this trial

The goal of this prospective, 24-week, double-masked, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trials to compare clinical efficacy and safety of RF and MGX with MGX alone in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction-related dry eye disease. The main question it aims to answer is whether radiofrequency treatment and meibomian gland expression is more effective in improving tear breakup time, as measured using non-invasive video keratography, compared with meibomian gland expression alone, in patients with refractory meibomian gland dysfunction-related dry eye disease.

Participants will be divided into two groups, one group will receive RF treatment followed with MGX and another will receive sham treatment with MGX.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

Age 18 or more

Bilateral dry eye disease as confirmed by presence of both symptoms and signs 2.1 Symptoms: Abnormal result on the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness Questionnaire (SPEED) dry eye symptom questionnaire (≥5) 2.2 Signs: Abnormal result in at least one of the following three clinical tests - tear osmolarity, NIKBUT and corneal staining for punctate epithelial erosions and,

Bilateral moderate to severe meibomian gland dysfunction - at least Grade 1 meibum quality (cloudy appearance) and Grade 2 meibum expressibility (moderate pressure required). And,

Refractory MGD - The failure to respond to at least three types of conventional therapy, including artificial tears, topical or systemic antibiotics and anti-inflammatory treatments and the aforementioned heat-based therapies, over a period of at least 2 years

Disqualifiers

Fitzpatrick skin type V-VI

History of eyelid scarring

Infrared meibography evidence of significant acinar gland atrophy (dropout of >30%) - these patients have been shown not to benefit from heat-based therapies due to end-stage disease

Pregnancy or lactation

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • The Thermage FLX System
  • Sham treatment

Treatment groups

112 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups

Sponsors and collaborators