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Presenters: Call dry eye something else
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LAS VEGAS – A group of experts recommended that clinicians find a better way to describe ocular surface disease to patients rather than calling it “dry eye.”
“How we explain the disease is critical,” panelist Richard Adler, MD, said here at Vision Expo West.
Adler and Paul M. Karpecki, OD; Jack Schaeffer, OD; and Primary Care Optometry News Editorial Board member Marc Bloomenstein, OD, spoke at the Ocular Surface Disease and Wellness Symposium, which was co-sponsored by PCON.
“We need something different to call it,” Bloomenstein said. “The perception for dry eye for each patient is not what it is to you. Make something up. I call it ‘tear lens syndrome.’ I say, ‘Your lens is not working well. We need to do things to get your tears working better.’ Find your own verbiage.”
“Our friends in ophthalmology invented a whole new disease: dysfunctional lens syndrome,” Schaeffer said. “It’s the new ‘cataract’ term.”
“It gets put in the same category as chapped lips, something benign,” Karpecki said of dry eye. “I see patients who are down to four or five meibomian glands, and they’re scarring, and I’m trying to get them to a better place. They ask if something can be done sooner.”
“Dysfunctional lens syndrome fits well today,” Schaeffer said. “We tell every cataract patient that we’ll do an ocular surface disease work-up. We say it will take 6 to 8 weeks to clear the ocular surface, then we’ll make a referral and discuss their options for IOLs.” – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO
Reference:
Schaeffer J, et al. The dry eye institute: The “why” and the integrated health care model. Presented at: Vision Expo West; Las Vegas; Sept. 13-16, 2017.
Disclosures: Adler reports he is a consultant for Allergan, Lumenis and Topcon. Bloomenstein is on the speakers’ panel for Abbott Medical Optics, Alcon, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Better Vision Institute, BlephEx, Bruder, Macular Health and TearLab. Karpecki receives consulting fees from AcuFocus, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Anthem, AMO, Alcon Labs, Allergan, Akorn, Bausch + Lomb/Valeant, BioTissue, Bruder Healthcare, Cambium Pharmaceuticals, Eyemaginations, Essilor, Eyes4Lives, Focus Laboratories, Glaukos, iCare USA, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Oculus, OcuSoft, Konan Medical, MacuLogix, Beaver-Visitech, Ocular Therapeutix, Reichert, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron, RySurg, Science Based Health, SightRisk, TearLab, TearScience and Vmax. He has conducted research for Akorn, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Eleven Biotherapeutics, Fera Pharmaceuticals, Rigel Pharma and Shire and has an ownership interest in Bruder HealthCare. Schaeffer is a consultant for Alcon, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, Essilor and Vistakon.