title: Correlation Between Tear Film Osmolarity and the Disease Score of the International Chronic Ocular Graft-Versus-Host-Disease Consensus Group in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate tear film osmolarity (TFO) as a diagnostic tool for detecting chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and to assess its correlation with the new international chronic ocular GVHD score.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of 204 consecutive patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at University Hospital Wuerzburg in Germany received an ophthalmologic examination after transplantation. TFO was measured and the chronic ocular GVHD score was calculated based on the Schirmer test, corneal fluorescein staining, conjunctival injection, Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire, and presence of systemic GVHD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 172 patients showed no chronic ocular GVHD. Of the remaining 32 patients using the international chronic ocular GVHD score, 21 were classified as "probably" and 11 as "definite" chronic ocular GVHD. TFO was positively correlated with the new chronic ocular GVHD score (P < 0.01, r = 0.35). TFO differed significantly between patients with no ocular GVHD (300 ± 16.5 mOsm/L) and definite ocular GVHD (337 ± 36 mOsm/L)-a receiver operating characteristic analysis showed high discrimination capability (area under the curve: 0.91 ± 0.04) and suggested a threshold level of the TFO value of 312 mOsm/L yielding a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 82%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TFO can be used for detecting chronic ocular GVHD with high sensitivity and specificity as a noninvasive objective test in addition to traditional dry eye tests. It correlates positively with the diagnostic criteria of a recently established international consensus score for diagnosing the disease.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Bochum, Germany; †Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Wuerzburg, Germany; ‡Department of Internal Medicine II, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Centre, Wuerzburg, Germany; and §Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schargus
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meyer-ter-Vehn
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Menrath
authors.forename: Götz U
authors.initials: GU
authors.lastname: Grigoleit
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Geerling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D019793:Fluorescein / Q000378:metabolism; D015590:Fluorophotometry; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000628:therapy; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D019793:Fluorescein