Blepharitis Caused by &lt;i&gt;Demodex&lt;/i&gt;

Demirkazik, Mehtap; Koltas, Ismail Soner

doi:10.4274/tpd.galenos.2019.6476

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…We found an extremely high prevalence of Demodex mites in the eyelids of 94% of ophthalmology clinic outpatients. These findings are somewhat higher than those of prior studies, which have found that Demodex mites are present on the eyelashes of between 43% and 90% of patients with blepharitis, 12,17 and between 18% and 55% of ophthalmology patients without blepharitis. 12,18 However, our findings may be confounded by a bias in patient selection; this study may have identified a particularly high prevalence of Demodex infestation as all subjects were clinical outpatients with a wide range of pre-existing ocular conditions, whereas previous studies recruited subjects with a narrower range of ocular complaints 12,17 or with no pre-existing ocular or lid and margin disease.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 71%

“…These findings are somewhat higher than those of prior studies, which have found that Demodex mites are present on the eyelashes of between 43% and 90% of patients with blepharitis, 12,17 and between 18% and 55% of ophthalmology patients without blepharitis. 12,18 However, our findings may be confounded by a bias in patient selection; this study may have identified a particularly high prevalence of Demodex infestation as all subjects were clinical outpatients with a wide range of pre-existing ocular conditions, whereas previous studies recruited subjects with a narrower range of ocular complaints 12,17 or with no pre-existing ocular or lid and margin disease. 12,18 The higher prevalence of Demodex infestation found in our study may also be due in part to the use of an improved in situ technique for Demodex identification, compared with prior studies which have used the technique of eyelash epilation for microscopic identification of Demodex mites.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 71%

“…25 Prior clinical studies have shown that prevalence of Demodex infestation is higher in patients with blepharitis than in those without, 12,18 and appears to be associated with advancing age. 17,26 Our study, however, did not find any correlation between presence of Demodex infestation and either patient age or reported symptoms of blepharitis. This lack of correlation may be due in part to the limited size and wide range of pre-existing ocular conditions in the patient population studied.…”

Section: Dovepresscontrasting

confidence: 81%

“…12,18 The higher prevalence of Demodex infestation found in our study may also be due in part to the use of an improved in situ technique for Demodex identification, compared with prior studies which have used the technique of eyelash epilation for microscopic identification of Demodex mites. 12,17,18 An alternative in situ technique for the clinical diagnosis and grading of Demodex infestation, described by Muntz et al, has previously been shown to identify a higher number of Demodex mites per eyelash than epilation techniques. 15 Our study substantiates this technique, whereby investigators are able to visualize mites at the exposed eyelash follicle by removing cylindrical dandruff and applying static, lateral tension to the eyelash without epilation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Refining the Diagnostic Technique to Determine Prevalence of Demodex Mites in Eyelash Hair Follicles Within Standard Ophthalmic Practice: A Single-Center Outpatient Clinical Study

Boel,

Westerveld,

Kloos

et al. 2023

OPTH

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A high density of Demodex infestation in human eyelids and eyelash follicles has been implicated in a variety of ocular surface conditions. However, Demodex infestation often goes undiagnosed and untreated, due to an overlap in signs and symptoms with other sources of ocular surface inflammation. We sought to refine the diagnostic technique for outpatient assessment for Demodex infestation and determine prevalence of Demodex mites in the hair follicles of eyelashes from patients in a standard ophthalmic practice. Patients and Methods: Patients recruited from a single outpatient ophthalmology clinic were examined for the presence of Demodex mites following standard ophthalmic consultation. During anterior segment biomicroscopic examination, investigators searched for cylindrical dandruff and collarettes around the base of patient eyelashes. These were removed, and individual eyelashes manipulated with tweezers to reveal Demodex mites. Presence of Demodex, cylindrical dandruff and collarettes, time taken to identify the first Demodex mite, mean number of Demodex mites per hair shaft, and patient-reported symptoms of blepharitis were recorded and analyzed to determine potential correlations. Results: A total of 173 patients were recruited, of whom 106 were included in Demodex prevalence analyses. Demodex infestation was identified in 100/106 (94%) patients, with a mean time of 2 minutes and 20 seconds taken to find the first Demodex mite and a mean number of 3 mites identified per hair shaft. Presence of Demodex significantly correlated with the presence of cylindrical dandruff (98/106 [92%] patients; p < 0.001), but not with the presence of collarettes (62/106 [58%] patients; p = 0.230) or symptoms of blepharitis (15/106 [14%] patients; p = 0.591). Conclusion: These results highlight the pervasiveness of Demodex infestation, predicted by the presence of cylindrical dandruff, in the eyelashes of patients in a standard ophthalmic practice. They support the use of a non-invasive diagnostic technique to allow fast, simple identification of Demodex by ophthalmologists and optometrists in outpatient clinical practice.

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