Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To study the association between congenital aniridia and dry eyes. Methods: Twenty patients (35 eyes) with congenital aniridia underwent full ocular examination and dry eye evaluation through schirmer's test I and II, tear breakup time (TBUT), tear meniscus level (TML), meibomian orifices (MO) examination, presence of mucoid secreations, and Rose Bengal or Fluorescien staining. Cytological diagnosis was performed on 23 eyes to evaluate stem cell function. Results: Reduced TBUT (average 5-6 seconds), TML (88.6% < 0.5mm), stenosed MO (81.3%) and dry eyes (94%) were correlated with the severity of the corneal involvement (P≤ 0.01 for all) Schirmer's tests were normal (91%). Impression cytology showed metaplasia in all cases, 35% had early limbal deficiency, 65% had advanced limbal deficiency. Conclusion: Abnormal tearfilm production and stability are present in aniridia and correlates with the severity of the corneal involvement. Limbal stem cell dysfunction is diagnosed in all patients with aniridia.
Keywords: 376 cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye