Short-Term Changes in Persistent Ocular Discomfort After Add-On Motugivatrep in Patients with Dry Eye Disease: A...

To evaluate whether motugivatrep improves persistent ocular discomfort in patients with dry eye disease who remain symptomatic despite ongoing conventional treatment.

This retrospective observational study included 41 eyes from 23 patients with dry eye disease who experienced persistent ocular discomfort for more than 2 months despite standard dry eye therapy, as defined by an Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) total score of ≥13. A 0.3% motugivatrep ophthalmic solution was added to their existing treatment regimen. Subjective symptoms and objective ocular surface findings were assessed before treatment and 2 weeks after initiation. The primary outcome was a change in the total OSDI score. The secondary outcomes included changes in individual OSDI symptom items, fluorescein ocular surface staining scores, and tear film breakup time.

The OSDI total score significantly decreased from 44.9 ± 25.3 at baseline to 25.5 ± 21.9 at 2 weeks, with a mean paired change of -19.4 points (95% CI, -27.3 to -11.6; n=23; Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p = 1.8×10^-4). In the exploratory item-level analyses, nominal improvements were observed for several OSDI items. In linear mixed-effects models, the van Bijsterveld staining score decreased significantly (estimated change, -0.69; 95% CI, -1.22 to -0.15; p = 0.012), whereas tear film breakup time did not change significantly (estimated change, -0.78 s; 95% CI, -1.70 to 0.14; p = 0.096). No adverse events were observed during the 2-week observation period.

Add-on motugivatrep was associated with an improvement in residual subjective ocular discomfort in patients with dry eye disease despite conventional therapy and may be a useful adjunctive treatment option.