Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate whether a tear substitute can improve corneal subepithelial nerve plexus and corneal sensitivity in glaucomatous patients.
Methods:
This study was prospective, longitudinal, and single-arm. Twenty glaucomatous patients were recruited. All the patients were treated with a prostaglandin analogue with preservative for at least one year. Preservative-free artificial tears (0.5% TS-Polysaccharide 0.5® eye drops single-dose preservative free (Oftagen, Pisa, Italy)) were prescribed three times per day. The participants were subjected to clinical and instrumental evaluation at baseline (T0), after one month (T1) and after three months (T3) of treatment. All patients were examined with a digital corneal confocal laser-scanning microscope (HRT II Rostock Cornea Module; Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany) and Cochet-Bonnet corneal aesthesiometer.
Results:
After the artificial substitute, corneal and conjunctival sensitivity significantly (P <0.001) improved at T1 and T3 compared to the baseline. A significant correlation was found between BUT and both central corneal sensitivity and the number of fibers.
Conclusions:
The use of a preservative-free artificial substitute in association with a topical therapy with chronic preservative could increase the compliance of patients.