Abstract
Purpose :
Dry eye disease (DED) is common in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GHVD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and is currently listed as a distinctive sign for the diagnosis of chronic ocular GVHD. The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between the signs and symptoms of DED within a short period after allo-HSCT.
Methods :
We retrospectively analyzed the medical charts of 96 patients who were available for evaluation before and 6 months after allo-HSCT. Subjective symptoms were assessed using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. Parameters pertaining to clinical signs associated with the ocular surface and tear dynamics were also evaluated, including tear osmolarity, Schirmer values without anesthesia, the tear break-up time (TBUT), and corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) scores.
Results :
There was a significant positive correlation between changes in OSDI and CFS scores after allo-HSCT. The number of patients who reported alleviated symptoms not corresponding to objective findings was greater among men than among women.
Conclusions :
Our findings suggest that evaluation of the subjective symptoms of DED alone may be insufficient for the diagnosis of ocular GVHD. Physicians should schedule regular ophthalmological examinations after allo-HSCT rather than relying on the Schirmer test or subjective symptoms.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.