Intraocular Scattering after Instillation of Diquafosol Ophthalmic Solution.

Purpose: To assess the changes in intraocular scattering before and after instillation of diquafosol ophthalmic solution in patients with short tear breakup time (TBUT) dry eye.

Methods: We prospectively examined 20 eyes of 20 short TBUT dry eye patients (study group) and age-matched 20 eyes of 20 healthy subjects (control group). Intraocular scattering was measured as the objective scattering index (OSI) at 0.5-second intervals over 10 seconds without blinking. Patients were instructed to start topical administration of 3% diquafosol ophthalmic solution six times daily for 4 weeks.

Results: The OSI significantly deteriorated after 7.0 seconds compared with the initial value of OSI after the blinking in the study group. The OSI was also significantly higher in the study group than in the control group at 4.5 to 10.0 seconds after the blinking (p < 0.05). We found significant improvements 2 weeks after treatment not only in TBUT (p < 0.001) but also in the mean OSI, the OSI change rate, and the slope of the linear regression line of the OSI within 10 seconds (p < 0.001, p = 0.003, and p = 0.002, respectively). We also found significant improvements 4 weeks after treatment in these variables.

Conclusions: Intraocular scattering deteriorates significantly with time in patients with short TBUT dry eye. Diquafosol ophthalmic solution exhibits an improvement not only in TBUT but also in intraocular scattering, indicating that diquafosol is also effective for improving the optical quality of the eye.