[Changes of tear film after recovery from acute conjunctivitis].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate tear film changes after recovery from acute conjunctivitis.

METHODS

This study involved 73 eyes of 56 consecutive patients who had recovered from acute conjunctivitis after routine treatment in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center between July 2002 and August 2003. Excluded other factors which could affect the stability of the tear film, tear film break up time (BUT), Schirmer I test (ST), fluorescein staining (FL) and the height of tear meniscus were measured on both recovered and healthy eyes of the patients at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days after recovery.

RESULTS

BUT was 14.72 s in healthy eyes, 5.23, 5.11, 7.84, 10.26 and 12.74 s in recovered eyes at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days (P = 0.012, 0.018, 0.032, 0.028 and 0.122), respectively. FL scored at 2.26 in healthy eyes, 3.02, 6.23, 7.92, 6.37 and 3.53 at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days in recovered eyes (P = 0.063, 0.017, 0.008, 0.024 and 0.074), respectively. ST scored at 16.30 mm in healthy eyes, 9.39, 11.48, 13.85, 21.24 and 17.40 mm, at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days in recovered eyes (P = 0.025, 0.040, 0.082, 0.012 and 0.104), respectively. The height of tear meniscus was 0.62 mm in healthy eyes; it scored at 0.39, 0.32, 0.44, 0.53 and 0.58 mm at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days in recovered eyes (P = 0.008, 0.015, 0.037, 0.120 and 0.182), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Instability of tear film and transient dry eye can occur after recovery from acute conjunctivitis. However, dry eye can be avoided during the treatment of acute conjunctivitis by consideration of drug side effects to the tear film and minimizing the unnecessary use of drugs.