Katherine M. Mastrota, MS, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO

The Precision Medicine Initiative offers a model to customize treatment for each individual patient. Katherine M. Mastrota, MS, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO explains why using precision medicine to treat dry eye disease can be beneficial for the OD and patient.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are devices designed to deliver nicotine in a solution rather than smoke without tobacco combustion. Perceived by consumers as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are aggressively marketed as lifestyle-choice consumables.

At every age we need adequate, uninterrupted sleep for optimal, wakeful functioning. Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression.

The ocular surface encompasses not only the cornea, but the all-important supporting conjunctiva that is divided into the bulbar, limbal, palpebral, forneaceal, and marginal zones.

Recently, I was stopped in my tracks when I overheard a colleague comment that she was unaware that topically administered cyclosporine (Restasis, Allergan) increases goblet cell density.

Since I read Dr. Robert Latkany’s study on nocturnal lagophthalmos in 2006,1 I am perpetually on the lookout for it, especially in the patients who present with dry eye symptoms. Sometimes it’s easy to spot lagophthalmos-sometimes, if you ask your patient about lid closure, they will report to you that they know about their incomplete lid closure, mostly when they sleep.

You see them year after year in your chair: persistent cylindrical dandruff (CD), red lid margins, and eyelash distention. You've prescribed lid scrubs with baby shampoo, warm compresses, and even steroid/antibiotic combo drops, but nothing seems to resolve the condition. If this is the case, it's likely you are dealing with demodex blepharitis.