Assessment of Corneal Epithelial Thickness in Dry Eye Patients by OCT

Abstract Background Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of the ocular surface characterized by a loss of homeostasis of the tear film and accompanied by ocular symptoms. Tear film instability and hyperosmolarity, ocular surface inflammation, and neurosensory abnormalities play important role in the etiology of dry eye. Objective To correlate the corneal epithelial thickness and grades of dryness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in dry eye patients versus normal eye patients. Patients and Methods A prospective case control study was conducted on patients of the outpatient clinic at Ophthalmology department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University. The study was conducted on patients in middle age group (from 20 to 50 years old of both sexes). The sample size was 30 dry eyes and 30 normal eyes. Results Regarding the AS/OCT-C 5 mm results among the studied patients, we found that Avg. of superior quadrants in Dry eyes group ranged from 47 to 59.6 with mean ± SD = 53.63 ± 3.7 while in Normal eyes group the Avg. of superior quadrants ranged from 49 to 56 with mean ± SD = 52.7 ± 1.93 with no statistical significant difference (p = 0.227) between the two groups. Avg. of inferior quadrants in Dry eyes group ranged from 49 to 65.6 with mean ± SD = 55.62 ± 4.35 while in Normal eyes group the Avg. of inferior quadrants ranged from 49 to 56 with mean ± SD = 52.7 ± 1.93 with statistical significant difference (p = 0.002) between the two groups. Regarding Comparison, there was a highly significant difference between the two studied groups (p = <.001). Conclusion There was significant difference Fundus examination, AS/OCT-C 5 mm, highest thickness, AS/OCT-C 2mm and AS/OCT-P 9mm results between dry eye patients and normal subjects.