Funny, I see abstracts about OCT in dry eye diagnosis pretty frequently. I dutifully post some of them. But unlike most other diagnostics covered so prolifically in the literature I hardly seem to hear about this one at all in 'real life'. Am I just out of touch? Who's using this?
Abstract Purpose: To compare tear meniscus height (TMH) and area (TMA) values obtained by optical coherence tomography (OCT) with the Schirmer test and tear-film break-up time (TBUT) values. Materials and methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, the right eyes of 300 consecutive patients were studied. All patients underwent routine ophthalmologic examination. Schirmer and TBUT measurements were taken, and tear-film OCT images were obtained. Using OCT, the TMH (i.e. the line connecting the intersection of the meniscus with the cornea and eyelid) and cross-sectional TMA were calculated. Patients were divided into Groups 1 (Schirmer values ≤ 5 mm) and 2 (Schirmer values > 5 mm). Data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0 software. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for the comparison of groups. Correlations between tear parameters were analyzed. Results: There were no significant differences in age, logMAR, or IOP values (p = 0.480, 0.077 and 0.146, respectively) between the two groups. Mean TBUTs were 5.1 ± 2.9 and 9.5 ± 4.2 s for Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p < 0.001). Mean TMHs were 237.9 ± 108.9 and 324.3 ± 158.9 μm for Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p < 0.001). Mean TMAs were significantly lower in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p < 0.001; 0.027 ± 0.028 versus 0.055 ± 0.059 mm2, respectively). Correlations between Schirmer values and TMH, and between Schirmer values and TMA, were significant (p = 0.001 and < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: OCT values were significantly lower in patients with Schirmer values of < 5 mm. Tear meniscus measurements obtained by OCT are reliable for establishing a diagnosis of dry eye.
Curr Eye Res. 2013 Mar 14. [Epub ahead of print]
Altan-Yaycioglu
R, Sizmaz S,
Canan H,
Coban-Karatas
M.
Source
Faculty of Medicine, Adana Teaching & Medical Research
Center, Baskent University , 01250 Adana , Turkey.