Temporal Progression of Entry Factors into the Vicious Circle of Dry Eye in Untreated Sufferers.

Background: Dry eye disease (DED) is characterized by the loss of ocular surface homeostasis with specific signs and symptoms. Studying the progression of a multifactorial disease is exceedingly challenging for researchers because several factors can influence it. The present study aims to study changes in tear meniscus height (TMH), lipid layer pattern (LLP), and bulbar hyperemia over time in untreated DED participants.

Meibum Lipidomic Analysis in Evaporative Dry Eye Subjects.

Meibomian Glands (MG) are sebaceous glands responsible for the production of meibum, the main component of the Tear Film Lipid Layer (TFLL). The TFLL facilitates the spread of the tear film over the ocular surface, provides stability and reduces tear evaporation. Alterations in meibum composition lead to different ocular alterations like Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) and subsequent Evaporative Dry Eye (EDE).

A Comprehensive Study on Tear Meniscus Height Inter-Eye Differences in Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye Diagnosis.

(1) Background: Dry eye disease (DED) is a chronic ocular surface condition that requires precise diagnostic tools. The present study aimed to investigate the diagnostic potential of the absolute inter-eye difference (|OD-OS|) in tear meniscus height (TMH) for the detection of the presence of aqueous deficient dry eye (ADDE). (2) Methods: A sample of 260 participants with dry eye complaints underwent ocular surface examinations thorough diagnostic assessments based on the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society guidelines (TFOS DEWS II).

Capability of the Inter-Eye Differences in Osmolarity, Break-Up Time and Corneal Staining on the Diagnostic of Dry Eye.

Purpose: Inter-eye variability is a recognized characteristic of Dry Eye Disease (DED) and has been proposed as a diagnostic indicator in clinical practice. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic potential of the absolute difference between eyes in three key diagnostic tests recommended by the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Dry Eye Workshop II (TFOS DEWS II) Diagnostic Methodology report: tear film osmolarity, Fluorescein Break-Up Time (FBUT), and ocular surface staining.

Methods: A total of 180 participants were included in a cross-sectional study.

Meibomian gland secretion quality association with ocular parameters in university students during COVID- 19 restrictions.

Purpose: To determine if the Meibomian Gland (MG) secretion quality is associated with symptoms of ocular discomfort, hours of Video Display Terminals (VDT) use, eyelid margin abnormalities, conjunctival hyperemia, and Meibomian Gland Loss Area (MGLA) in a sample of university students.

Methods: An online survey that included an Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and an extra question about hours of VDT use recruited an initial sample of 183 participants. Only 120 participants that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were scheduled for a battery of ocular surface and MG specific exam.

A cross-sectional study of non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors of dry eye disease states.

Purpose: The present study aimed to determine the relationship of non-modifiable (rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid diseases, and arterial hypertension) and modifiable risk factors (diuretics, antidepressants, or anxiolytics tranquilizers) with the different Dry Eye Disease (DED) diagnostics in a sample adjusted by antihistamines intake.

Methods: A total of 400 participants were included in a cross-sectional study. Before a dry eye examination, participants completed an online self-administered OSDI questionnaire with six additional questions about possible DED risk factors.

Categorization of the Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye by a Cut-Off Criterion of TMH Measured with Tearscope.

A decrease of the Tear Meniscus Height (TMH) has been proposed as a useful indicator for Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye (ADDE) categorization. The present study aimed to calculate a TMH cut-off criterion for the categorization or severity assessment of ADDE with the Tearscope. 200 participants with a previous Dry Eye Disease (DED) diagnosis according to TFOS DEWS-II criteria were recruited.

Analysis of the Differences in Ocular Surface Damage and Inflammatory Signs between Healthy and Evaporative Dry Eye Participants.

Objective: Distinguish between EDE severity levels by analysing the MGLA, conjunctival hyperemia and corneal staining.

Methods: One hundred participants were recruited based on OSDI, TO, TFBUT, TMH, and LLP to be categorised as healthy (Group 1) or EDE (Group 2). Group 2 was divided into Group 2A (mild symptoms), 2B (moderate), and 2C (severe).

Diurnal variations of tear film osmolarity on the ocular surface.

The measurement of tear film osmolarity has been suggested as a gold standard in the diagnosis of dry eye. Many tear film physiological variables oscillate during the day. This review summarises current clinical knowledge regarding diurnal osmolarity variation in the tear film.

Validation of a New Software Application for Tear Breakup Measurement.

Significance: Tear film instability has been recognized as one key mechanism on dry eye disease. There is a need for new instruments, methods, or protocols to improve the repeatability and reproducibility of the tear film stability to facilitate its clinical evaluation use as a rapid and reliable primary diagnostic test.

Purpose: The present pilot study aimed to validate a method to automatically measure the tear film breakup time (BUT).

Inter-week variation of meibometry and tear break-up time in healthy subjects.

Clinical Relevance: Variation with time in the tear film parameters should be considered by the clinician since the time when measurements are made can influence proper diagnosis.

Background: A hallmark of dry eye is an unstable tear film associated with variability in objective daily measures. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the inter-week repeatability of meibometry, break-up time (BUT) and maximum blink interval (MBI) in healthy subjects.

Osmolality and pH of commercially available contact lens care solutions and eye drops.

Purpose: The physical properties of contact lens care solutions and Eye Drops (ED) may affect initial comfort and dry eye symptomatology in contact lens wearers, although these properties are not always provided by manufacturers. The present study aimed to measure and compare the osmolality and pH of commercially available contact lens care solutions and ED.

Methods: Forty-four solutions were tested (17 lens care solutions and 27 ED) and classified by the presence and/or combination of the viscosity/lubrication-enhancing ingredients.

Inter-eye osmolarity differences in patients with symptomatic and non-symptomatic dry eyes.

Purpose: To analyze whether inter-eye osmo larity differences were related to dry eye symptomatology.

Methods: A total of 135 participants were randomly recruited from those who visited in the Optometry Clinic of the Optometry Faculty (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela). In a single scheduled session after the recruitment, Ocular Surface Disease Index was filled out following the standard instructions and TearLab measurements were made in both the participants' eyes (10-15 min lapse).

Reproducibility in measuring tear samples using a freezing point depression osmometer.

Background: Hyperosmolarity of tear fluid has been recognised as a common feature of all types of dry eye disease. This study was designed to assess the inter-session reproducibility of a freezing point depression osmometer (Fiske 110) as the most common and precise way of measuring osmolality, by using two different volumes of tear samples on healthy subjects, and to determine the possible applications of this device in tear film research and clinical practice.

Methods: Measurements were made by using the Fiske 110 osmometer under two different tear sample volumes (4 μl and 2 μl).

Clinical relationship of meibometry with ocular symptoms and tear film stability.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between meibometry with both ocular symptoms and tear film stability by: (1) to find out whether meibometry is able to differentiate between dry eye symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects classified by standardized dry eye questionnaires (OSDI and McMonnies), and (2) to assess the clinical relationship between meibometry with both tear break-up time (BUT) and maximum blink interval (MBI).

Methods: 140 Patients were recruited for the study. Using Meibometer MB550, five curves were generated for each patient.

On the development of conjunctival hyperemia computer-assisted diagnosis tools: Influence of feature selection and class imbalance in automatic gradings.

Objective: The sudden increase of blood flow in the bulbar conjunctiva, known as hyperemia, is associated to a red hue of variable intensity. Experts measure hyperemia using levels in a grading scale, a procedure that is subjective, non-repeatable and time consuming, thus creating a need for its automatisation. However, the task is far from straightforward due to data issues such as class imbalance or correlated features.

iDEAS: A web-based system for dry eye assessment.

Background And Objectives: Dry eye disease is a public health problem, whose multifactorial etiology challenges clinicians and researchers making necessary the collaboration between different experts and centers. The evaluation of the interference patterns observed in the tear film lipid layer is a common clinical test used for dry eye diagnosis. However, it is a time-consuming task with a high degree of intra- as well as inter-observer variability, which makes the use of a computer-based analysis system highly desirable.

Diurnal variations in tear film break-up time determined in healthy subjects by software-assisted interpretation of tear film video recordings.

Background: This study was designed to examine diurnal variations in tear film break-up time (BUT) and maximum blink interval (MBI) and to assess two different ways of calculating these variables on video recordings of the BUT test interpreted with the help of especially designed software. The repeatability of interpreting BUT video recordings was also addressed.

Methods: Twenty-six healthy young adults were enrolled after ruling out dry eye according to a battery of tests (ocular surface disease index, McMonnies questionnaire, Schirmer test, phenol red test and corneal staining).

Interobserver variability of an open-source software for tear meniscus height measurement.

Purpose: Different values of the lower tear meniscus height (TMH) can be obtained depending on the method and technique of measurement employed. The aim of this study was to analyse the interobserver variability of a method for measuring TMH by using an open source software.

Material And Methods: On a group of 176 subjects, two videos of the central lower tear meniscus, first under slit-lamp illumination and ten minutes later under Tearscope illumination, were generated by a digital camera attached to a slit-lamp.

Accuracy of a Freezing Point Depression Technique Osmometer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the precision and accuracy of the Fiske 110 Osmolarity System under different protocols to determine the possible applications of this device in tear film research and clinical practice.

Methods: Three separate studies were performed. In the first, Fiske 110 measurements were made on undiluted and diluted (1:1, 1:4, and 1:9 dilutions) standard samples of different osmolarity values: 50, 290, and 850 mOsm/kg and 297 and 338 mOsm/L.

Correlation between tear osmolarity and tear meniscus.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between tear meniscus height (TMH) and subjective meniscus grading (subjective tear meniscus [TM]) with tear osmolarity.

Methods: Tear osmolarity measurements (using TearLab) and digital images of the TM were obtained in 177 consecutive patients undergoing an eye examination at our optometry clinic (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain) who fulfilled the study's inclusion criteria. Participants were also administered the McMonnies and Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaires for the detection of dry eye disease.

Interobserver and intraobserver repeatability of lipid layer pattern evaluation by two experienced observers.

Purpose: The lipid layer plays a major role in limiting evaporation of the tear film. Based on interference phenomena, there is a test directed to lipid layer pattern (LLP) evaluation, but is affected by subjective interpretation of the patterns. The aim of this study is to compare the LLP evaluation between two experienced observers on a group of healthy patients.

New software application for clarifying tear film lipid layer patterns.

Purpose: The lipid layer of the tear film limits evaporation during the interblink interval and also affects tear stability. This study was designed to validate a new software application designed to characterize the tear film lipid layer through texture and color pattern recognition.

Methods: Using the Tearscope-plus (slit-lamp magnification ×200), the lipid layer was examined in 105 healthy young adults, and interference photographs were acquired with a Topcon DV-3 digital camera.

Reliability of the non-contact tono-pachymeter Tonopachy NT-530P in healthy eyes.

Background: Non-contact Tonopachy NT-530P (Nidek Co., LTD) provides intraocular pressure (IOP) and central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements. This study assesses the reliability and repeatability of its IOP measurements in young healthy adult subjects.