This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (4)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Dry Eye Syndromes  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Jutta Horwath-Winter, MD; Andrea Berghold, PhD; Otto Schmut, PhD; Ingrid Floegel, MD; Verena Solhdju, MD; Elizabeth Bodner, MD; Gerold Schwantzer, MCS; Eva-Maria Haller-Schober, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121:1364-1368.

Objective  To assess subjective symptoms, tear function factors, and ocular surface morphology in the clinical course of patients with dry eye syndrome under treatment within an observation period of up to 8 years.

Methods  In 97 patients (78 women and 19 men) with ocular discomfort, a clinical diagnosis of dry eye syndrome was made based on typical symptoms and a reduced tear film breakup time of less than 10 seconds. Subsequent evaluations revealed a diagnosis of aqueous tear deficiency in 9 patients, meibomian gland dysfunction in 32 patients, and aqueous tear deficiency combined with meibomian gland dysfunction in 30 patients, aqueous tear deficiency associated with Sjögren syndrome in 12 patients, and aqueous tear deficiency and meibomian gland dysfunction associated with Sjögren syndrome in 14 patients. Follow-up assessments were performed 12 to 94 months (mean follow-up, 40 months) after the initial diagnosis.

Main Outcome Measures  In different subgroups of dry eye tear film breakup time, Schirmer test without local anesthesia (Schirmer I), fluorescein and rose bengal staining, impression cytology, as well as subjective dry eye symptoms and frequency of tear substitute application were compared at baseline and after a follow-up of 1 to 8 years (mean, 3.3 years).

Results  At baseline, tear film function and ocular surface test results found more pathologic abnormalities and more severe subjective symptoms in patients with aqueous tear deficiency associated with Sjögren syndrome and aqueous tear deficiency and meibomian gland dysfunction associated with Sjögren syndrome compared with the other groups who had dry eye syndrome. No differences in frequency of tear substitute application were observed. At follow-up, tear breakup time, Schirmer I test results, and corneal fluorescein staining improved compared with baseline values, whereas rose bengal staining and impression cytology of the conjunctival surface remained almost unchanged. Subjective symptoms and frequency of artificial tear application were reduced.

Conclusions  Within the observation period of up to 8 years, the dry eye syndrome improved or stabilized under appropriate treatment. Although no patient was completely cured, subjective reports as well as frequency of artificial tear application were reduced.

From the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital (Drs Horwath-Winter, Schmut, Floegel, Solhdju, Bodner, and Haller-Schober), and the Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics, and Documentation (Dr Berghold and Mr Schwantzer), Graz, Austria.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

The Interblink Interval I: The Relationship between Sensation Intensity and Tear Film Disruption
Varikooty and Simpson
IOVS 2009;50:1087-1092.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT