Serial measurement of tear meniscus by FD-OCT after instillation of artificial tears in patients with dry eyes

■ BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To use Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) to study the effect of artificial tears on the tear meniscus in patients with dry eyes. ■ PATIENTS AND METHODs: The lower tear meniscus of 16 consecutive patients with dry eyes was imaged by an FD-OCT system (RTVue; Optovue, Inc., Fremont, CA). Baseline and five serial pairs of measurements were taken after the instillation of artificial tears (Optive; Allergan, Irvine, CA) at 1, 2, 5, 10, and 15 minutes. The lower meniscus height, depth, and area were measured with a computer caliper.■ RESULTS: Baseline meniscus measurements were 235.5 ± 150.0 μ m, 138.1 ± 78.7 μ m, and 0.020 ±0.022 mm² for height, depth, and area, respectively. After instillation of artificial tears, all lower tear meniscus parameters remained significantly elevated for 5 minutes and returned to baseline by 10 minutes. ■ CONCLUSION: FD-OCT is able to quantify a dramatic initial increase in tear meniscus, followed by a decay back to baseline values after approximately 5 minutes. FD-OCT may be useful in objectively quantifying the dynamic efficacy of dry eye treatments.