Comparison of the Clinical Efficacy of Topical and Systemic Azithromycin Treatment for Posterior Blepharitis.

PURPOSE: To compare the clinical efficacy of topical and oral azithromycin treatments for posterior blepharitis.

METHODS: Both topical and oral treatment groups comprised 15 patients. In the topical group, azithromycin 15 mg/g ophthalmic solution (Azyter; Thea Pharmaceuticals, Clermont-Ferrand, France) was used twice a day for 3 days and then once a day until the treatment completes a month. In the systemic treatment group, azithromycin 250 mg tablets (Azitro; Deva Pharmaceuticals, Istanbul, Turkey) were used, 1 × 2 tablets (500 mg) at the first day of treatment and then 1 × 1 tablet (250 mg) for 4 days. Three cycles of treatment with 5-day intervals were completed. The ocular symptoms, eyelid margin sings, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), tear film break-up time, corneal/conjunctival staining score, Schirmer test, and conjunctival brush cytology were evaluated at baseline, 1, and 5 weeks after the end of treatment.

RESULTS: Both topical azithromycin and oral azithromycin were found to be effective in improving the clinical signs and symptoms of posterior blepharitis. The mean OSDI scores, lissamine green staining scores, and Schirmer test results showed improvements after both topical and oral treatments. However, topical treatment was shown to be associated with longer cytological improvements that persist at least 5 weeks and with better stabilization of the tear film, which is well documented by showing longer tear film break up time (TFBUT) in the topical treatment group.

CONCLUSIONS: Although both treatment methods are found to be effective, the results of topical treatment group showed some superiority over those of systemic treatment group, which may be associated with a higher ocular tissue concentration of azithromycin after topical administration.