Treating Evaporative Dry Eye Disease in Dogs Based Upon Tear Film Lipid-Layer Thickness: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Directed EDED therapy based on lipid layer thickness significantly improves tear film stability.

This retrospective cohort study evaluated treatment outcomes for evaporative dry eye disease (EDED) in 20 client-owned dogs, classified by tear film lipid layer thickness using interferometry. Dogs with lipid-deficient EDED (LD-EDED; <30 nm) received topical paraffin/wool fat ointment plus oral flaxseed oil, while idiopathic EDED (I-EDED; >30 nm) cases received topical trehalose/hyaluronic acid drops with compounded tacrolimus or cyclosporine. Tear film break-up time (TFBUT) significantly improved post-treatment across both groups: overall mean TFBUT increased from 3.63±2.48 to 10.79±4.83 seconds (p<0.001). LD-EDED showed improvement from 3.75±3.05 to 11.75±3.98 seconds, while I-EDED improved from 3.56±2.63 to 9.76±4.32 seconds. A strong correlation existed between pretreatment lipid layer thickness and TFBUT in LD-EDED patients. These findings suggest that pathophysiology-directed therapy based on lipid layer characterization effectively improves tear film stability in dogs with EDED.

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