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Dry eye signs and symptoms found in patients with fibromyalgia
SAN FRANCISCO — Fibromyalgia patients present with signs and symptoms of evaporative and aqueous deficient dry eye disease, according to a physician here.
"Fibromyalgia patients should be routinely questioned as to any signs or symptoms of dry eye and referred for a comprehensive evaluation to determine the nature of their dry eye disease and the most appropriate therapeutic course," Jack V. Greiner, DO, PhD, said at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
Jack V. Greiner
In a single-center observational study performed at the Boston Ocular Surface Center, researchers evaluated signs and symptoms of patients with fibromyalgia as part of a comprehensive correlation between the disease and dry eye.
A mean ocular surface disease score of 34.3 among patients with fibromyalgia showed that the majority of these patients experience moderate dry eye symptoms, Greiner said. Furthermore, tear film osmolarity is increased in patients with fibromyalgia, a finding consistent with dry eye disease, he said.
"It is unknown whether the dry eye disease associated with fibromyalgia is exclusively an aqueous deficiency phenomenon, as might be expected due to the rheumatological nature of fibromyalgia. However, given that 86% of the dry eye patients in the U.S. suffer from evaporative lipid deficient dry eye [meibomian gland dysfunction], it might also play a role in fibromyalgia," Greiner said.
Disclosure: Greiner has no relevant financial disclosures.