Dr. Toyos presented an update on using dermatological treatments in an attempt to improve meibomian gland function. For those not familiar with intense pulsed light, it's been used in rosacea treatment for quite some time, but here, OSN is reporting on a study Dr. Toyos presented in Italy about IPL and broadband light for treating meibomian glands.

OSN Supersite, 5/19/2008
Dermatological treatment may have application as dry eye therapy

Patients receive treatment in four selected facial areas. Tear break-up time and Schirmer's tests are performed during the first visit to establish baseline values before first treatment, before all subsequent treatments, and at 1, 3 and 6 months after completion of the treatment to assess the efficacy on dry eye symptoms. An average of four to five monthly treatments are usually necessary to achieve stable results, he said.

"In our patients, we found an average increase of [tear break-up time] of 47% and 33% with [intense pulse light] and [broadband light], respectively, and an increase of 60% with [intense pulse light] and 84% with [broadband light] for Schirmer's test," Dr. Toyos said.