Effect of different lubricant eye gels on tear film thickness as measured with ultrahigh‐resolution optical coherence tomography

• DOI: 10.1111/aos.13342
• Publication Date: 2016-12-18T09:16:47Z
• Authors: Piotr A. Wozniak; Doreen Schmidl; Ahmed M. Bata; Klemens Fondi; Katarzyna J. Witk...; Valentin Aranha d...; Carina Baar; Kim I. Room; Johannes Nepp; Isabella Baumgartner; Alina Popa‐Cherec...; Gerhard Garhöfer; René M. Werkmeister; Leopold Schmetterer
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Viscosupplements; Middle Aged; Image Enhancement; Polyethylene Glycols; Surface-Active Agents; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Tears; Humans; Dry Eye Syndromes; Female; Single-Blind Method; Hyaluronic Acid; Ophthalmic Solutions; Gels; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Aged; Lubricants

AbstractPurposeTo compare the effect of a single drop of different lubricant eye gels on tear film thickness (TFT) as measured with ultrahigh‐resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR‐OCT) in patients with mild‐to‐moderate dry eye disease (DED).MethodsThe study followed a randomized, single‐masked, observer‐blinded parallel group design. Patients received a single dose of either unpreserved trehalose 3% + hyaluronic acid 0.15% (TH), hyaluronic acid 0.2% (HA) or polyethylene glycol 0.4% + propylene glycol 0.3% (PP) eye drops. In total, 60 patients were included and TFT was measured using a custom‐built UHR‐OCT system.ResultsThe mean TFT at baseline was 3.5 ± 0.7 μm. There was a significant difference in the time–course of TFT between the three groups (p = 0.001 between groups). Ten minutes after instillation, TFT increased by 155.8 ± 86.6%, 65.7 ± 71.5% and 33.4 ± 19.6% in the PP, TH and HA group, respectively (p < 0.001 between groups). Thirty minutes after instillation, the effect of all three different agents on TFT was comparable. Sixty and 120 min after administration, a significant increase in TFT was only seen for the TH group, but not for the other products (60 min: p < 0.021 between groups; 120 min: p < 0.037 between groups).ConclusionIn conclusion, we observed differences in TFT after administration of the lubricant gels. Ten minutes after instillation, a pronounced increase in TFT was observed in all groups. As compared to the other products, the combination of trehalose 3% + hyaluronic acid 0.15% offers a significantly longer increase in TFT indicating for a longer residence time.