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AzTrials

Age-related CataractPhase 4GISTNCT04050644

Comparison of Treatment With Preservative-free Dexamethasone 0.1% (Monofree Dexamethason) and Diclofenac 0.1% (Dicloabak) Eye Drops Versus Preserved Dexamethasone 0.1% (Maxidex) and Diclofenac 0.1% (Voltaren Ophtha) Eye Drops After Cataract Surgery

A Phase 4 study testing Preservative Free drop treatment and Preserved drop treatment in people with Age-related Cataract, run by Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven at 2 sites in Belgium.

Unknown status

Status not confirmed. The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.

Official record
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Trial summary

To compare treatment with preservative-free dexamethasone 0.1% (Monofree Dexamethason) and diclofenac 0.1% (Dicloabak) eye drops versus preserved dexamethasone 0.1% (Maxidex) and diclofenac 0.1% (Voltaren Ophtha) eye drops after cataract surgery in terms of postoperative inflammation, iatrogenic dry eye disease and… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 60 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Age-related Cataract
What is being tested?
Preservative Free drop treatment and Preserved drop treatment
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
100 participants
Where
2 sitesBelgium
Study dates
30 Oct 2018to Dec 2024
Phase
Phase 4
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 60 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Patients diagnosed with age-related cataract
  • Age 60 years or above

Who cannot join

  • Unwilling to sign informed consent
  • Pseudoexfoliation syndrome
  • Functionally monocular patient
  • Any use of eye drops during at least 3 months before surgery with the exception of artificial tears
  • Pre-existing dry eye disease according to the criteria's of the TFOS DEXS II report
  • Previous ocular surgery, laser treatment or uveitis, with the exception of retinal laser treatment (more than 6 months ago) and iridotomy (more than 6 months ago)
Show all 12Show fewer
  • Active conjunctivitis
  • Wearing of contact lens
  • Presence of any macular diseases possibly impacting visual acuity
  • Presence of any ocular diseases leading to difficulty to have a correct eye examination
  • Known or suspected allergy to any of the ingredients on the study medications
  • Presence of uncontrolled systemic disease

Trial locations and contacts

2 sites in 1 country.

Heleen Delbeke, MD contact

+32 16 332687

heleen.delbeke@uzleuven.be

Ingeborg Stalmans, MD, PhD contact

+32 16 332687

ingeborg.stalmans@uzleuven.be

Belgium2 sites, 2 recruiting
  • Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven

    Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, 3000

    Ingeborg Vriens, +32 16 342229, ingeborg.vriens@uzleuven.be

    Recruiting
  • AZ Delta

    Roeselare, West-Vlaanderen, 8800

    Hilde Seynaeve, MD

    Recruiting

Other trials in Belgium

About this study

To compare treatment with preservative-free dexamethasone 0.1% (Monofree Dexamethason) and diclofenac 0.1% (Dicloabak) eye drops versus preserved dexamethasone 0.1% (Maxidex) and diclofenac 0.1% (Voltaren Ophtha) eye drops after cataract surgery in terms of postoperative inflammation, iatrogenic dry eye disease and cystoid macular edema.

Read the detailed description

Cataract surgery is a standardized procedure yielding excellent visual outcomes in most patients. According to Daien et al., the incidence of cataract surgery in 2012 in France was 11/1000 person-years. Although there are few complications related to the surgery, patients often experience ocular discomfort in the postoperative period.

Postoperative treatment usually includes topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and topical steroids for four weeks to control anterior chamber inflammation, to relieve ocular pain after surgery and to reduce the incidence of cystoid macular edema.

Benzalkonium chloride (BAK) is the most common eye drop preservative and is associated with several ocular adverse effects, including dry eye and ocular surface inflammation. Moreover, in two clinical trials comparing the effects of BAK-containing and preservative-free eye drops, anterior chamber inflammation was reported in response to BAK after 1 month of exposure. Finally, besides the fact that intra-ocular inflammation increases the risk of macular edema, there is some evidence in the literature suggesting that BAK may also contribute to the development of macular edema.

Because of these well-established detrimental effects of preservatives, pharmaceutical industry has invested in the development of preservative-free eye drops in the past decade, which has led to preservative-free alternatives for almost all the eye medications.

The aim of this project is to investigate whether omitting preservatives from the postoperative topical treatment after cataract surgery can reduce symptoms and signs of ocular surface disease, intra-ocular inflammation and the incidence of cystoid macular edema.

Additionally ocular microbiome research is added to our study because of its known correlation with the ocular immunity. Although the ocular surface is continuously colonized by a commensal microbial community, the healthy ocular surface is not in an inflammatory state. This phenomenon suggests that there is an interplay between the ocular surface microbiome and innate immune mechanisms, which prevents inflammatory responses against commensal microbiota.

St Leger et al. used a murine model to reveal the presence of a commensal, Corynebacterium mastitidis, on the ocular surface. Corynebacterium mastitidis elicited an IL-17 response from ƔΔT-cells, facilitating recruitment of neutrophils to the ocular surface and secretion of antimicrobial peptides in the tears. These findings suggest the presence of a functional resident microbiome on the ocular surface which contribute to immune homeostasis and protects the ocular surface from pathogens.

Our expert in the area of ocular microbiome research is affiliated with the department of biochemistry and microbiology of the University of Ghent.

Being tested
Preservative Free drop treatment, Preserved drop treatment
Keywords
Preservative-free ocular drops, Preserved ocular drops

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Preservative Free drop treatmentDrug

    Patients will use the preservative-free dexamethasone 0.1% 4 times a day in the first week after cataract surgery, 3 times a day in the second week, twice daily in the third week and once daily in the fourth week and diclofenac 0.1% eye drops 3 times daily for 1 day preoperatively and every 15 minutes in the hour before surgery and then 3 times a day for four weeks.

  • Preserved drop treatmentDrug

    Patients will use the preserved dexamethasone 0.1% 4 times a day in the first week after cataract surgery, 3 times a day in the second week, twice daily in the third week and once daily in the fourth week and diclofenac 0.1% eye drops 3 times daily for 1 day preoperatively and every 15 minutes in the hour before surgery and then 3 times a day for four weeks.

Study groups in NCT04050644
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Preservative-free dexamethasone 0.1%/diclofenac 0.1%ExperimentalOne week before surgery, patients will be randomized to either receive the preservative-free dexamethasone 0.1% and diclofenac 0.1% eye drops.
Receives: Drug: Preservative Free drop treatment
Preserved dexamethasone 0.1%/diclofenac 0.1%Active comparatorOne week before surgery, patients will be randomized to either receive the preserved dexamethasone 0.1% and diclofenac 0.1% eye drops.
Receives: Drug: Preserved drop treatment

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. The superiority of treatment arm without conservative (WC) on treatment arm with conservative (C) on the aqueous flare value in the operated eye, measured with a laser flare meter, at week 4 after cataract surgery.

    The Laser Flaremeter can measure the protein density in the anterior chamber by counting the photons. Flare Value is expressed in photoncount/ms. 1-9 photoncounts/ms is a normal value. Photoncount/ms from 10-500 is abnormal and indicates an inflamed eye.

    Measured: 4 weeks

Secondary outcomes (9)
  1. Tear Osmolarity

    The difference in Tear Osmolarity between the two treatment arms. Tear Osmolarity value will be measured with TearLab.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  2. Conjunctival Hyperemia

    The difference in Conjunctival Hyperemia between the two treatment arms. The scale that will be used is the Cornea and Contact Lens Research Unit (CCLRU) scale. Minimum score is 1, maximum score is 4.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  3. Corneal Fluorescein Staining

    The difference in Corneal Fluorescein Staining between the two treatment arms. The grading scale that will be used is the Oxford grading scale. Minimum score is grade 0, maximum score is grade 5.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  4. Tear-film break up time

    The difference in Tear-film break up time between the two treatment arms. The Tear-film break up time will be expressed in seconds.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  5. Corneal Sensitivity

    The difference in Corneal Sensitivity between the two treatment arms. Corneal Sensitivity value will be measured with the Cochet-Bonnet Aesthesiometer, expressed in mm.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  6. Central macular thickness

    The difference in Central Macular Thickness between the two treatment arms. Central Macular Thickness will be measured with OCT Cirrus, expressed in µm.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  7. DEQ-5 score

    The difference in Five-item Dry Eye Questionnaire (DEQ-5) score between the two treatment arms. Minimum total score is 0, maximum total score is 22.

    Measured: 4 weeks

  8. Inflammatory cytokine activities in tears

    The difference in Inflammatory cytokine activities in tears between the two treatment arms. The cytokines that will be measured are IL-1Bèta, TNF-Alpha, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17, INF γ, macrophage migration inhibitory factor,...

    Measured: 4 weeks

  9. Amount of tears

    The difference in Amount of Tears between the two treatment arms. The Amount of Tears will be measured with Schirmer tear test strips. The strips will be placed in the lower eyelid pouch for 5 minutes, value is expressed in mm.

    Measured: 4 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted8 Aug 2019
  2. Study start30 Oct 2018
  3. Primary completionJun 2024 (estimated)
  4. Study completionDec 2024 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
* Prospective, randomized controlled trial, investigator masked. * Patients requiring cataract surgery and who consent to participate will be enrolled in this study. * The patient can opt to participate in an sub-investigation researching a correlation between the microbiome and ocular surface inflammation post cataract surgery.
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Investigator
Enrolment
100 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04050644
Sponsor's protocol ID
S60915
Acronym
GIST
Status last verified
Jun 2024
First submitted
2 Aug 2019
Last updated
1 Jul 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 4 study testing Preservative Free drop treatment and Preserved drop treatment in people with Age-related Cataract, run by Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven at 2 sites in Belgium.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 12 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 1 Jul 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 2 sites in Belgium. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 4 studies take place after a treatment is approved, to learn more about its long-term benefits and risks in everyday use.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

Results are not available in the source record.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Heleen Delbeke, MD (+32 16 332687, heleen.delbeke@uzleuven.be), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

The superiority of treatment arm without conservative (WC) on treatment arm with conservative (C) on the aqueous flare value in the operated eye, measured with a laser flare meter, at week 4 after cataract surgery. (time frame: 4 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 1 Jul 2024.

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