Eye Institute and Affiliated Xiamen Eye Center of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
Curr Eye Res. 2024 Feb;49(2):131-139. doi: 10.1080/02713683.2023.2276682. Epub 2024 Jan 18.
To clarify the ocular surface features of patients with recent history of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) and the relation between corneal dendritic cells (DCs) and ocular discomfort.
Normal controls (NC) and dry eye (DE) patients without EKC were recruited. Patients with recent EKC history (onset >4 weeks, but <20 weeks) were recruited as EKC + DE group (with dry eye) or EKC-DE group (without dry eye). Ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire, tear film parameters including lipid layer thickness, first tear break-up time (fBUT), average tear break-up time (aBUT), tear meniscus height and Schirmer test, meibomian gland parameters, and corneal confocal microscopy were evaluated.
50 subjects in the NC group, 83 patients in the DE group, 76 patients in the EKC + DE group, and 38 patients in the EKC-DE group were included. Compared with the NC, DE, and EKC-DE groups, the EKC + DE group represented higher OSDI, lid margin, and meibum score ( < 0.05). In the EKC + DE group, the tear volume (10.5 ± 3.7 mm) was significantly higher than in the DE group (8.1 ± 2.8 mm, < 0.001). The DC density in the EKC + DE group (29.98 ± 15.38 cells/image) was significantly higher than in NC, DE, and EKC-DE groups (4.68 ± 4.05 cells/image) ( < 0.001). The DC density was positively correlated with OSDI, lid margin, and meibum score (all < 0.01) while inversely correlated with fBUT, aBUT (all < 0.001) in the EKC + DE group.
Corneal DC density significantly correlates to ocular discomfort and tear film instability in patients with recent EKC history who suffer from DE without aqueous tear deficiency.
阐明近期流行角膜结膜炎（EKC）病史患者的眼表特征，以及角膜树突状细胞（DC）与眼部不适的关系。
招募正常对照组（NC）和无 EKC 的干眼症（DE）患者。招募近期 EKC 病史（发病>4 周，但<20 周）患者作为 EKC+DE 组（伴有干眼）或 EKC-DE 组（无干眼）。评估眼表疾病指数（OSDI）问卷、泪膜参数（脂质层厚度、泪膜第一次破裂时间（fBUT）、平均泪膜破裂时间（aBUT）、泪膜高度和 Schirmer 试验）、睑板腺参数和角膜共聚焦显微镜。
纳入 NC 组 50 例、DE 组 83 例、EKC+DE 组 76 例和 EKC-DE 组 38 例。与 NC、DE 和 EKC-DE 组相比，EKC+DE 组的 OSDI、眼睑边缘和睑脂评分更高（均<0.05）。在 EKC+DE 组中，泪液量（10.5±3.7mm）明显高于 DE 组（8.1±2.8mm，<0.001）。EKC+DE 组的 DC 密度（29.98±15.38 个/图像）明显高于 NC、DE 和 EKC-DE 组（4.68±4.05 个/图像）（均<0.001）。EKC+DE 组中，DC 密度与 OSDI、眼睑边缘和睑脂评分呈正相关（均<0.01），与 fBUT、aBUT 呈负相关（均<0.001）。
在近期 EKC 病史且伴有干眼但无水性泪液缺乏的患者中，角膜 DC 密度与眼部不适和泪膜不稳定显著相关。
