Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the diagnostic value of a point-of-care (POC) Lymph toxin alpha (LTA-POC) test in dry eye disease (DED).
Methods :
Participants were assessed using the Ocular Surface Disease Index(OSDI) ocular symptom sub-scale. Tear fluid were collected and LTA-POC test was performed to measure LTA, before conducting the following tests: tear break-up time (TBUT), and corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), and Schirmer’s test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate LTA as a biomarker for dry eye diagnosis.
Results :
The study enrolled 1088 subjects: 782 patients with clinical signs and symptoms of dry eye and 306 non-dry eye controls. LTA level in dry eye group (0.64±1.35, ng/mL) was significantly lower than control group (2.05±2.92, ng/mL) (P<0.001). LTA level correlated positively with Schirmer test and TBUT, and correlated negatively with OSDI score, CFS and conjunctival hyperemia (all of them P<0.001) . Kappa value was 0.496 (95%CI: 0.438~0.553)（P<0.001）. With ROC curve analysis, area under the curve (AUC) was 0.765 (95% CI: 0.731~0.800).
Conclusions :
Findings from this large prospective clinical study support LTA as a biomarker for dry eye digsnosis. They also support the intended use of LTA-POC tear test as a point of care immunoassay to be used in facilitating diagnosis of dry eye.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.