[Ocular surface and hepatitis C].

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of the tests used for dry eye diagnosis in patients with hepatitis C virus, and to verify if there is any relationship between the duration of illness and intensity of ocular surface changes.

Methods: 25 patients with hepatitis C virus without treatment, and 29 patients with negative serologic tests for hepatitis C virus were selected. Biomicroscopy, tear film crystallization test, tear film break-up time, evaluation of the corneal staining with 1% fluorescein sodium, Schirmer I test, ocular surface staining with 1% rose bengal and esthesiometry were performed in both groups.

[Reproducibility of the classification of ocular ferning patterns in Sjogren's syndrome patients].

Purpose: To verify the reproducibility of Rolando's classification of the tear ferning test using five different examiners and to compare the patterns of crystallization found in Sjögren's syndrome patients and normal subjects.

Methods: Tear ferning analysis of 29 patients with Sjögren's syndrome and of 45 patients without ocular disease were done using polarized light microscopy and the Rolando classification for tear ferning. Five examiners classified the ferning patterns of all the patients.