A clinical study of topical treatment for thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy with dry eye syndrome

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical effect of vitamin A palmitate eye gel and sodium hyaluronate eye drop for thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) with dry eye syndrome.MethodsThe study was conducted in the Ophthalmology Department of the Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated with the Medical College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University from May to October 2020. A total of 80 mild or moderate-to-severe inactive TAO patients with dry eye syndrome were divided into the control or the experimental group. Patients in the experimental group were treated with vitamin A palmitate eye gel three times/day for one month and sodium hyaluronate eye drop in the control group. The index of the dry eye test, including break-up time (BUT) and Schirmer I test (SIT), corneal fluorescence staining (FL), ocular surface disease index (OSDI), and adverse reactions were analyzed. The data were analyzed by SPSS 24.0.ResultsAfter the intervention, the effective rate was 67.7% in the control group and 91.2% in the experimental group. The BUT value of the experimental group was significantly longer than that of control group (P=0.009). For the control group, the OSDI score and FL grade were significantly improved after treatment (P=0.002), while BUT score and FL grade were significantly improved after treatment for the experimental group (P<0.001). ConclusionIn patients with TAO, vitamin A palmitate gel and sodium hyaluronate eye drop improved the dry eye and promoted corneal epithelial repair. Vitamin A palmitate gel improves the stability of tear film, while sodium hyaluronate eye drop improves patients’ subjective discomfort.