title: Ocular surface changes in eyes with glaucoma filtering blebs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the ocular surface changes in eyes with functioning filtering blebs and to correlate with the size of the bleb.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty eyes of 40 glaucomatous patients with functioning blebs and 40 normal control subjects underwent double vital staining for ocular surface evaluation, tear film break-up-time (BUT) and Schirmer I-test in a standardized fashion. Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman's rank correlation were used to correlate bleb height and horizontal extent with BUT, Schirmer I-test, rose bengal and fluorescein staining scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eyes with functioning blebs presented minimal, but significantly, higher rose bengal and fluorescein staining than controls (p < 0.000). The staining correlated poorly with the height and extent of the bleb. The Schirmer test in the study group showed greater measurements than controls, however, BUT showed shorter values in the study group as compared to controls (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Filtering blebs can interfere with the ocular surface stability causing few dry eyes like signs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Santa Casa de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Celso Ricardo
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Neves Mendes
authors.forename: Richard Yudi
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Hida
authors.forename: Niro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kasahara
mesh_terms: D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D018463:Filtering Surgery; D019793:Fluorescein; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012395:Rose Bengal; D013499:Surface Properties; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012395:Rose Bengal; D019793:Fluorescein