AS-OCT shows relationship between corneal epithelial thickness and dry eye
Increased corneal epithelial thickness correlated with dry eye, based on anterior segment optical coherence tomography measurements, a study found.
The retrospective case-control study included 70 eyes of 35 female patients with untreated dry eye disease. A control group comprised 70 eyes of 35 healthy female subjects.
Investigators used the RTVue-100 Fourier-domain AS-OCT system (Optovue) to topographically image the corneal epithelium, measuring average, central and peripheral epithelial thickness and variability in topographic epithelial thickness.
Average, superior and inferior epithelial thickness and topographic thickness variability were measured in 17 sectors within the 5-mm zone.
Central epithelial thickness was 59.5 µm in the dry eye group and 53 µm in the control group. Topographic thickness variability was 2.5 µm in the dry eye group and 1.9 µm in the control group. All between-group differences in thickness measurements were statistically significant (P < .05).
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.