ABSTRACT
Purpose@#To evaluate the correlations between tear osmolarity and matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9) and dry eye (DE) indices in patients with DE associated with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). @*Methods@#Sixty-three patients with DE associated with SS who underwent tear analysis were included. DE tests performed were ocular surface disease index, tear break-up time, Schirmer’s test, ocular staining score, and tear osmolarity and MMP-9 tests. Correlations between tear osmolarity and DE indices, differences between patients with abnormal and normal tear osmolarity, and those between positive and negative MMP-9 patients were analyzed. Patients were classified into four groups according to tear osmolarity and MMP-9 results, and between-group differences were analyzed (group 1: abnormal tear osmolarity, MMP-9 positive; group 2: abnormal tear osmolarity, MMP-9 negative; group 3: normal tear osmolarity, MMP-9 positive; group 4: normal tear osmolarity, MMP-9 negative). @*Results@#Mean age of patients was 54.2 ± 13.9 years, and 96.2% were female. Thirty-five patients had abnormal tear osmolarity and 40 patients were MMP-9 positive. DE indices differed between groups with abnormal and normal tear osmolarity (p < 0.01), but not between positive and negative MMP-9 groups. There were 22 patients in group 1, 13 in group 2, 18 in group 3, and 10 in group 4. Compared to group 4, tear break-up time was shorter in groups 1 (p < 0.01) and 2 (p = 0.02). Schirmer’s test values in group 1 were lower than those in group 4 (p = 0.03). Ocular staining score was higher in groups 1 (p < 0.01) and 2 (p < 0.05) than in group 4. @*Conclusions@#Tear osmolarity was correlated with ocular surface indices in DE associated with SS. Combination of tear osmolarity and MMP-9 test results may be helpful to determine the severity of DE associated with SS.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#To compare the clinical characteristics of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease between patients with and without prodromal manifestations. @*Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with VKH disease who were treated with systemic steroids. We grouped the patients into the incomplete type (36 eyes of 18 patients) and probable type (32 eyes of 16 patients) according to the presence of prodromal manifestations. We compared the following outcomes between groups: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), anterior chamber (A/C) cell, central foveal thickness (CFT), maximal subretinal fluid (SRF) height, choroidal thickness at baseline and 12 months after treatment, and recurrence rate. @*Results@#BCVA logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) significantly improved from 0.37 ± 0.26 at baseline to 0.09 ± 0.17 at 12 months in the incomplete type group (p < 0.05) and from 0.35 ± 0.24 at baseline to 0.10 ± 0.18 at 12 months in the probable type group (p < 0.05); BCVA did not significantly differ between groups. Choroidal thickness significantly decreased at 12 months after treatment, compared with one week after treatment, in both groups (p < 0.05); choroidal thickness did not significantly differ between groups. There were no significant differences in clinical factors between groups, including baseline A/C cell, CFT, maximal SRF height, and recurrence rate. @*Conclusions@#No associations were found between disease type and clinical outcomes (BCVA, OCT findings, and recurrence). These data suggested that categorization of disease according to prodromal manifestations has limited usefulness in terms of clinical outcomes of VKH disease.
