Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29398903›Full record

ArticleClinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.)2018

Comparison of a single-dose vectored thermal pulsation procedure with a 3-month course of daily oral doxycycline for moderate-to-severe meibomian gland dysfunction.

Kerry B Hagen, Raman Bedi, Caroline A Blackie, Kellie J Christenson-Akagi

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. LipiFlow for the treatment of dry eye disease: A Cochrane systematic review summary.Contact lens & anterior eye : the journal of the British Contact Lens Association · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. LipiFlow for the treatment of dry eye disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024
    Pooled it
  3. Efficacy and safety of a vectored thermal pulsation system (Lipiflow®) in the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2022
    Pooled it
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  11. Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Clinical Practice Guidelines.Japanese journal of ophthalmology · 2023
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kerry B HagenEyeHealth Northwest, Portland, OR, USA.
Raman BediIris Advanced Eye Centre, Chandigarh, India.
Caroline A BlackieTearScience, Inc., Morrisville, NC, USA.
Kellie J Christenson-AkagiEyeHealth Northwest, Portland, OR, USA.
Northwest Eye Surgeons · USTetraScience (United States) · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a single bilateral 12-minute vectored thermal pulsation (VTP) procedure versus daily oral doxycycline for 3 months for moderate-to-severe meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).

methodsThis prospective, randomized, parallel-group, single-masked study included 28 subjects who received either a single-dose VTP or 3 months of doxycycline treatment. At baseline and 3 months post treatment, all subjects were evaluated for the following: dry eye symptoms with a standard dry eye questionnaire (the Standard Patient Evaluation for Eye Dryness [SPEED]), meibomian gland (MG) function by counting the number of glands yielding liquid secretion with the MG evaluator (MGE), tear breakup time (TBUT) and corneal and conjunctival staining.

resultsIn the VTP group, at 3 months, there was a significant improvement in MG function (4.00±1.47 to 7.73±5.53), SPEED score (11.00±3.30 to 5.42±2.15), TBUT (6.26±2.01 to 8.44±1.81), corneal staining (0.38±0.50 to 0.12±0.33) and conjunctival staining (1.69±1.93 to 0.62±0.85). In the doxycycline group, there was a significant improvement in MG function (4.63±1.41 to 10.63±5.91), SPEED score (13.42±4.17 to 9.42±5.47) and conjunctival staining (2.38±1.88 to 1.13±1.51), but the improvement in TBUT (6.90±2.56 to 7.59±2.03) and corneal staining (0.21±0.41 to 0.13±0.34) was not statistically significant (

conclusionA single 12-minute bilateral VTP procedure was significantly more effective than the 3-month daily course of oral doxycycline at improving the dry eye symptoms secondary to MGD. A single 12-minute VTP treatment was at least as effective as a dose of doxycycline for 3 months, in improving MG function and all measured signs of MGD. Given the minimal risk profile of the single VTP procedure over long-term doxycycline use, a single VTP presents a favorable alternative to long-term antibiotic use.

Indexed as

dry eyeLipiFlowmeibomian gland dysfunctionvectored thermal pulsation

Identifiers

PMID29398903
PMCPMC5775735
OpenAlexW2783221298

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.