Department of Optics, Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Valencia, Spain.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Poland.
Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2018 Feb;41(1):54-59. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2017.08.004. Epub 2017 Aug 25.
To assess the early-phase of tear clearance rate (TCR) with anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to determine the association between TCR and other clinical measures of the tear film in a group of young subjects with different levels of tear film quality.
TCR was classified as the percentage decrease of subject's inferior tear meniscus height 30s after instillation of 5μl 0.9% saline solution. Fifty subjects (32F and 18M) aged (mean±standard deviation) 25.5±4.3 years volunteered for the study. It consisted of a review of medical history, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, tear film osmolarity measurements, slit lamp examination and TCR estimation based on dynamic measurements of the lower tear meniscus with OCT. Estimates of TCR were contrasted against subject age and tear film measures commonly used for dry eye diagnosis, which includes OSDI score, fluorescein tear film break-up time (FBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), blinking frequency, tear film osmolarity and corneal staining.
The group mean TCR was 29±13% and 36±19% respectively after 30 and 60s margin after saline solution instillation. Statistically significant correlations were found between TCR and FBUT (r=0.319, p<0.001), blinking frequency (r=0.138, p<0.01), tear film osmolarity (r=0.133, p<0.01) and subject's age (r=0.095, p<0.05).
Anterior segment optical coherence tomography allows following changes of tear meniscus morphology post saline solution instillation and evaluating the TCR. OCT based TCR might be used as additional measure of the lacrimal functional unit.
利用眼前节光学相干断层扫描（OCT）评估泪液清除率（TCR）的早期阶段，并确定在一组具有不同泪膜质量水平的年轻受试者中，TCR 与其他泪膜临床测量值之间的关系。
TCR 被定义为在滴入 5μl 0.9%生理盐水后 30 秒内受试者下泪膜高度的百分比下降。50 名受试者（32 名女性和 18 名男性）年龄（平均值±标准差）为 25.5±4.3 岁，自愿参加本研究。研究内容包括病史回顾、眼表面疾病指数（OSDI）问卷、泪膜渗透压测量、裂隙灯检查以及基于 OCT 对下泪膜动态测量的 TCR 估计。将 TCR 的估计值与受试者年龄以及常用于干眼症诊断的泪膜测量值进行对比，这些测量值包括 OSDI 评分、荧光素泪膜破裂时间（FBUT）、泪膜高度（TMH）、眨眼频率、泪膜渗透压和角膜染色。
滴入生理盐水后 30 秒和 60 秒时，组内平均 TCR 分别为 29±13%和 36±19%。TCR 与 FBUT（r=0.319，p<0.001）、眨眼频率（r=0.138，p<0.01）、泪膜渗透压（r=0.133，p<0.01）和受试者年龄（r=0.095，p<0.05）之间存在显著相关性。
眼前节 OCT 允许观察盐水滴注后泪膜半月板形态的变化，并评估 TCR。基于 OCT 的 TCR 可作为泪液功能单位的附加测量指标。
