Tear meniscus evaluation by optical coherence tomography.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the ability of optical coherence tomography to visualize the inferior tear meniscus and measure its height.


METHODS
Twenty-seven eyes (27 patients) with aqueous tear deficiency were compared with 20 eyes (20 patients) with normal tear secretion (control group). After the instrument was focused on the ocular surface, a 4-mm long vertical scan, centered on the lower tear meniscus at corneal 6 o'clock hours, was obtained using optical coherence tomography. Tear meniscus height was measured by means of an external application.


RESULTS
Mean tear meniscus height was significantly lower (P < .0001) in patients with aqueous tear deficiency (mean +/- standard deviation: 0.13 +/- 0.07 mm) than in the control group (mean +/- standard deviation: 0.25 +/- 0.08 mm).


CONCLUSIONS
Optical coherence tomography can be used to noninvasively visualize the inferior tear meniscus. This method seems able to discriminate between patients with normal and dry eyes when measuring tear meniscus height.
Centro Salus, Bologna, Italy.
Giacomo
G
Savini
Piero
P
Barboni
Maurizio
M
Zanini
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence