Efficacy and safety of visuevo® and cationorm® for the treatment of evaporative and non-evaporative dry eye disease : a multicenter, double-blind, cross-over, randomized clinical trial

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of the new lubricating product VisuEvo® (VSE) vs Cationorm® (CTN) in patients with dry eye disease (DED). Methods: Seventy-two patients with evaporative (n=54) and non-evaporative DED (n=18) were included in a multicenter, double-blind, 12-week cross-over study to receive VSE (6 weeks) and CTN (6 weeks) in randomized sequence. After baseline, two visits were performed during each period (intermediate and final visit, respectively at 2 and 6 weeks from the beginning of each period). Primary (tear break-up time, TBUT) and secondary endpoints (Schirmer I, Ferning, blink rate, osmometry, cytokine and lipid expression, ocular surface staining, patient satisfaction, and OSDI score) were compared. Results: Sixty-three patients were evaluated for efficacy and 68 patients for safety. The intergroup differences for mean TBUT values were not significant at any study visit (baseline 3.2 ±1.5 sec; intermediate visits 4.5 ± 1.9 and 4.5 ± 1.8 sec in VSE and CTN groups, respectively, p = 0.10; final visits 5.4 ± 2.4 and 6.0 ± 3.1, respectively, p=0.63). Also, the assessment of secondary endpoints showed no significant difference between the two groups. The two study treatments were equally effective in evaporative and non-evaporative DED. The safety profile was excellent for both ocular treatments; transient blurred vision was observed in 11 patients only during CTN, 10 patients only during VSE, and 16 during both treatments. Conclusion: VSE was non-inferior to CTN in restoring tear film composition, increasing its stability and reducing ocular surface damage in evaporative and non-evaporative DED patients. Study Identifier: NCT03833882.