Hormone replacement may ease postmenopausal dry eye, study suggests

Hormone replacement therapy may help reduce degradation of the tear film associated with menopause, according to a study. Changes in IOP and retrobulbar blood flow, which are also intensified by menopause, may also be affected, the study authors noted.

Dr. Özgül Altintas and colleagues at the University of Kocaeli in Izmit, Turkey, conducted the study, which enrolled 20 menopausal women with no ocular or systemic diseases who were planning to receive hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and compared them to a control group of 24 healthy, age-matched but nonmenopausal women.

At baseline, the menopausal women had a decreased quality and amount of tear film compared to the control group. After 2 months of treatment, the HRT patients experienced a significant increase in the quality and amount of tears (P < .001) and a significant decrease in IOP (P < .001).

The authors noted that there were also significant decreases in peak systolic velocity of the central retinal arteries and the temporal short posterior ciliary arteries (P < .05) in the treated patients. Also there were decreases in the resistivity indexes of the central retinal arteries (P < .001), nasal short posterior ciliary arteries and temporal short posterior ciliary arteries (P < .05).

The study is published in Ophthalmologica.