title: OCT assessment of tear meniscus after punctal occlusion in dry eye disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the tear meniscus changes after punctal occlusion in dry eye patients using Visante optical coherence tomography (OCT) in a prospective controlled study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty eyes of 15 symptomatic dry eye patients not responding to non-preserved artificial tears received additional upper and lower punctal occlusion with silicone plugs, and 30 eyes of 15 age- and sex-matched dry eye control patients received only non-preserved artificial tears treatment for 1 month. All subjects underwent tear meniscus height (TMH) measurements with Visante OCT. All study participants also underwent slitmicroscopy graticule scale TMH measurement, strip meniscometry testing, tear film break-up time measurement, ocular surface vital staining with fluorescein and Rose Bengal dyes, and the Schirmer-1 test. Both groups, dry eye and control group patients, were examined before and after 1-month treatment. Wilcoxon-matched pair test was performed. The study was conducted in compliance with the Tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TMH measurements by OCT and slitlamp graticule scale significantly improved after punctal occlusion (p < 0.001) and remain unchanged in the dry eye control patients. Similarly, strip meniscometry scores, mean tear stability values, Rose Bengal, and fluorescein staining scores showed significant improvement after punctal occlusion (p < 0.05). Schirmer-1 test values tended to be higher after 1 month of treatment in both groups without any statistical significance (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OCT TMH measurement appears to be effective in monitoring tear meniscus changes after punctal occlusion. OCT can be a valuable non-invasive and quick clinical tool for evaluation of treatment responses in dry eye patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Osama M A
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dogru
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Tais Hitomi
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Wakamatsu
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsubota
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujishima
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013499:Surface Properties; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D055675:Viscosupplements / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D055675:Viscosupplements; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid