First Author: A.Cummings IRELAND
Co Author(s):
Purpose:
To determine if osmolarity is a more accurate predictor of post-refractive surgery dry eye disease than Schirmer’s test when performed in preoperative refractive surgery patients
Setting:
: Wellington Eye Clinic, Dublin, Ireland
Methods:
Consecutive case series of 100 patients undergoing laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) to correct refractive error. Prior to LASIK, all patients underwent Schirmer’s test and tear osmolarity testing with the TearLab Osmolarity System (TearLab Corp., San Diego, CA). After a follow up of 1 month post-LASIK, the presence of dry eye symptoms and signs were noted and correlated with the pre-operative Schirmer’s and TearLab tests.
Results:
By the end of postoperative month 1, pre-LASIK Schirmer’s test results showed poor correlation with post-operative development of dry eye, whereas this correlation was significantly better when pre- and post-LASIK osmolarity readings were compared.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that tear osmolarity is a more accurate predictor of post-LASIK dry eye disease than Schirmer’s test. Pre-operative osmolarity levels appear to positively correlate with a patient’s post-operative development and progression of dry eye.
Financial Disclosure:
No
