Assessment of Corneal and Tear Film Parameters in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Using Anterior Segment Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

Evaluation of Dry Eye Severity and Ocular Surface Inflammation in Patients with Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases

PURPOSE

To evaluate dry eye severity and ocular surface inflammation in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs).

METHODS

Seventy-nine patients with ARDs were enrolled, including 26 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 33 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 20 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). All patients underwent ocular surface evaluations, including ocular surface symptoms, signs, conjunctival impression cytology, and tear multicytokine detection. Systemic conditions, including disease duration, disease activity, and serological parameters, were also noted.

RESULTS

SLE patients had the shortest disease duration, and nearly half of them had low disease activity, while RA patients and pSS patients had a relatively long disease duration, and approximately 90% of them had moderate or high disease activity. The incidence of dry eye and the levels of the proinflammatory tear cytokines in SLE were significantly lower than those in RA and pSS. However, ocular surface squamous metaplasia was more severe in SLE and pSS than in RA. Dry eye severity in all ARD patients was shown to be independent of disease activity, while Nelson's grades were positively correlated with disease duration in RA patients. Disease-related serological parameters were associated with tear proinflammatory cytokines in all ARD patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Variable degrees of dry eye and immune-mediated ocular surface inflammation persist in different ARD patients. In addition to a well-known association between dry eye and pSS, dry eye is also commonly observed in SLE and RA patients. Therefore, there is a definite need for regular ophthalmologic evaluations and topical medications in all patients with ARDs.

Assessment of corneal epithelial thickness mapping in epithelial basement membrane dystrophy

Purpose

To investigate the corneal epithelial thickness topography with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and its relationship with vision quality in epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (EBMD).

Methods

45 eyes of EBMD patients, 26 eyes of dry eye (DED) patients and 22 eyes of normal subjects were enrolled. All participants were subjected to 9-mm corneal epithelial mapping with OCT and vision quality was assessed with the optical quality analysis system using the objective scatter index (OSI). Central, superior, inferior, minimum, maximum, and standard deviation of epithelium thickness (Irregularity), were analysed and correlations with the OSI were calculated.

Results

The mean (±SD) central, inferior and maximum epithelial thicknesses of the EBMD patients (respectively, 56.4 (±8.1) μm, 58.9 (±6.4) μm, and 67.1 (±8.3) μm) were thicker compared to DED patients (P<0.05) and normal subjects (P<0.05). We found greater irregularity of epithelial thickness in EBMD (5.1±2.5 μm) compared to DED patients (2.6±1.0 μm) (P = 4.4.10⁻⁶) and normal subjects (2.1±0.7 μm) (P = 7.6.10⁻⁷). The mean OSI was worse in EBMD patients than in DED patients (P = 0.01) and compared to normal subjects (P = 0.02). The OSI correlated with the epithelial thickness irregularity (Spearman coefficient = 0.54; P = 2.65.10⁻⁵).

Conclusions

The OCT pachymetry map demonstrated that EBMD patients had thicker corneal epithelium in the central and inferior region. These changes were correlated with objective measurements of vision quality. This OCT characterisation of the EMBD provides a better understanding of the epithelial behaviour in this dystrophy and its role in vision quality.

Repeatability and Reproducibility of Corneal Epithelial Thickness Mapping With Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Normal and Diseased Cornea Eyes

PURPOSE

To evaluate the performance of the epithelial thickness mapping (ETM) of the iVue spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) device (Optovue Inc, Fremont, California, USA) in normal and diseased cornea eyes.

DESIGN

Reliability and validity analysis.

METHODS

Sixty eyes of 60 subjects were recruited for the study, which included normal subjects (n = 12) and patients with corneal diseases (12 patients each: dry eye syndrome [DES], contact lens wear, post-laser refractive surgery, and keratoconus). Three repeated scans were acquired on 3 iVue SD-OCTs with device-designated operators from consented subjects. Each subject was scanned on each device. Repeatability (based on random error of repeated scans) and reproducibility (including the random error and the instrument/operator variability) were assessed based on spatial zones derived from a 6-mm-diameter corneal ETM centered on the pupil and compared between the groups.

RESULTS

Fifty-nine eyes qualified for final analysis. Seventy-one of 598 acquired scans (11.9%) were excluded owing to scan quality concerns. The percentage of disqualified scans was similar across normal (10.7%) and diseased eyes (12.1%). Of 527 qualified scans, 40 (7.6%) scans required manual edits of the segmentation lines. Repeatability and reproducibility results were similar, indicating minimal device/operator variability for both groups. Repeatability and reproducibility were similar in all subgroups of cornea patients, excluding the DES group, for which reproducibility was significantly lower (range 3.2%-5.5% for DES patients and 1.1%-2.9% for normal subjects).

CONCLUSIONS

The iVue SD-OCT provides good corneal ETM repeatability and reproducibility in normal and diseased cornea eyes through all map zones.