Posters

Work environment: relationship with symptoms in patients with dry eye

Poster Details

First Author: C.Vendrell SPAIN

Co Author(s):    F. Peralta   C. Hernandez   S. Ubia              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

The work environment effect on people's health has been described on multiple occasions. Ventilation conditions as well as the humidity, cool or heat can generate dry eye symptoms. On the other hand, environmental pathogens such as cladosporium can cause allergies and sometimes respiratory, skin or ophthalmic pathological abnormalities. This paper describes a series of cases of patients with symptoms and ocular discomfort in a common work environment where this fungus was identified

Setting:

ICO Innova Ocular Barcelona

Methods:

Demographic data and systemic and ophthalmological antecedents of patients with dry eye symptoms were collected from the same company. They were tested for Schirmer1 test, meibography with Oculus Keratograph 5M, NIKBUT and slit lamp exploration in which TBUT was described, state of the surface determining the presence or not of subtarsal papillae, staining by Oxford classification and staining with lissamine green test. Since Cladosporium was identified in the ventilation of the company, both blood analysis with total IgE and specific IgE for Cladosporium and prick test were performed.

Results:

Data from 13 patients was collected. All had papillary reaction. All were negative for an allergy test to Cladosprium.6 patients (46.15%) had a Schirmer1 in right eye (OD) less than 10 mm and 5 (38.46%) had it in the left eye (OS). 8 (61.53%) had a TBUT less than 10 seconds in the RE while it was less than 10 in the LE in 11 (84.61%). 12 (92.30%) had a staining according to the Oxford scale of 0/5 and 1 (7.69%) a 1/5 in RE, while in 11 patients (84.91%) were 0/5 and 2 (15.4%) of 1/5 in the OS

Conclusions:

In the present descriptive work, none of the patients had allergic reactivity to Cladosporium measured through IgE, while the majority had subtarsal papillary reaction. We infer that the dry eye condition was preexisting exposure in the work environment and that this exacerbated the symptomatology.

Financial Disclosure:

None