Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography (AS-OCT) Guided Reversal of Edematous Punctal Occlusion.

Aim: To evaluate the role of anterior segment-optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in the diagnosis of punctal stenosis and to compare punctal parameters before and after medical treatment.

Patients And Methods: The study was conducted on 40 eyes of 24 patients who had acquired inflammatory punctal stenosis and had persistent epiphora (persistent epiphora group - PEG), and 20 eyes of 10 subjects with normal punctal openings as a control group (control group - CG). We measured the outer punctal diameter (OPD), recorded the visibility of the internal punctum and punctal depth (PD) using AS-OCT, before and 1 month after treatment with preservative free methylprednisolone 5% eye drops. Punctal diameter, tear meniscus height (TMH) and Munk's score were compared to the control group before and after treatment.

Results: The mean OPD of the PEG before treatment (455.5 ± 174 µm) was significantly smaller than that of the CG (590.9 ± 106.6 µm) ( 0.002). The mean OPD of the PEG significantly increased to 484.6 ± 175.5 µm after treatment ( <0.001). Also, the visibility of vertical canaliculus lumen and PD were restored in 70% of eyes. The TMH was much higher in the PEG than in the CG before treatment (<0.05). However, after treatment the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: AS-OCT parameters were useful in monitoring and measuring the efficacy of medical treatment in relieving punctal edema, which subsequently resulted in reducing the epiphora symptoms.