Assessment of tear meniscus with optical coherence tomography in thyroid-associated ophtalmopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the tear-film meniscus with optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with Graves' disease (GD).


METHODS
Patients with GD without clinical features of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) (Group 1, n=35), patients with signs of TAO (Group 2, n=31) and healthy participants (Group 3, n=31) were enrolled. Palpebral fissure width, Schirmer test, tear break-up time (TBUT) test and tear-film meniscus height and area obtained with Fourier-domain-OCT were analyzed.


RESULTS
TBUT test scores were 8 s (2-25) in Group 1, 8 s (2-15) in Group 2 (p=0.380); and 10 s (5-17) in Group 3 (p=0.000 Group 1 versus 3, and 0.000 for Group 2 versus 3). Tear-film meniscus height did not significantly differ between Groups 1 and 2 (257.5 µm (86-962) and 258 µm (99-1340), respectively, p=0.980). In Group 3, tear-film meniscus height was 316 µm (122-720) (p=0.005 Group 1 versus 3 and 0.004 for Group 2 versus 3). Tear-film meniscus area did not significantly differ between Groups 1 and 2 (0.025 mm(2) (0.004-0.250) and 0.024 mm(2) (0.003-0.316), respectively, p=0.850). In Group 3, tear-film meniscus area was 0.048 mm(2) (0.006-0.75) (p=0.000 Group 1 versus 3 and 0.000 for Group 2 versus 3).


CONCLUSIONS
Tear function is significantly disturbed in GD. OCT is an effective way to assess the tearing function also in patients with GD.
Department of Ophthalmology and.
Selcuk
S
Sizmaz
Rana
R
Altan-Yaycioglu
Okan Sefa
OS
Bakiner
Emre
E
Bozkirli
Muge
M
Coban-Karatas
Burak
B
Ulas
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D049970:Graves Ophthalmopathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013499:Surface Properties; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*