Abstract: FD-OCT measurement of tear meniscus

Tear meniscus ain't everything, not by a long shot, but still... those who complain their eyes feel the same 5 minutes after putting in drops could understandably be tempted to think this explains how they feel.

Serial Measurement of Tear Meniscus by FD-OCT After Instillation of Artificial Tears in Patients With Dry Eyes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:
To use Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) to study the effect of artificial tears on the tear meniscus in patients with dry eyes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:
The lower tear meniscus of 16 consecutive patients with dry eyes was imaged by an FD-OCT system (RTVue; Optovue, Inc., Fremont, CA). Baseline and five serial pairs of measurements were taken after the instillation of artificial tears (Optive; Allergan, Irvine, CA) at 1, 2, 5, 10, and 15 minutes. The lower meniscus height, depth, and area were measured with a computer caliper.

RESULTS:
Baseline meniscus measurements were 235.5 ± 150.0 μm, 138.1 ± 78.7 μm, and 0.020 ± 0.022 mm(2) for height, depth, and area, respectively. After instillation of artificial tears, all lower tear meniscus parameters remained significantly elevated for 5 minutes and returned to baseline by 10 minutes.

CONCLUSION:
FD-OCT is able to quantify a dramatic initial increase in tear meniscus, followed by a decay back to baseline values after approximately 5 minutes. FD-OCT may be useful in objectively quantifying the dynamic efficacy of dry eye treatments.

Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging. 2011 Jul-Aug;42(4):308-13. doi: 10.3928/15428877-20110603-02.
Bujak MC, Yiu S, Zhang X, Li Y, Huang D.