Abstract
Purpose :
To assess the long-term treatment outcomes of dry eye in patients with and without primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS) in a retrospective cohort study.
Methods :
SS and non-SS dry eye patients with clinic visits for a minimum of 5 consecutive calendar years at a tertiary, dedicated dry eye clinic were included. Electronic health records were reviewed to collect data regarding demographics, objective dry eye parameters (Schirmer’s test without anesthesia, tear osmolarity, corneal and conjunctival staining) at baseline and final visit, treatments utilized, and corneal complications during follow-up.
Results :
Two hundred and two patients (101 SS and 101 non-SS) were included, with mean follow-up of 7.1 years (range 3.8 to 15.4). At baseline, patients had significant mean conjunctival (2.9) and corneal (2.0) staining. Notable improvement in staining score for cornea (-1.1, P < .001) and conjunctiva (-1.8, P < .001) was seen equally in both SS and non-SS dry eye groups. A great majority of patients (89.1%) received escalation of treatment at final visit with equal rates in both groups (P = .259). Half (48.9%) of the patients had no conjunctival staining and a third (34.4%) had no corneal staining at last visit. Twenty (9.9%) patients experienced a vision-threatening corneal complication including ulcers and melt with no difference between the groups (P = .638).
Conclusions :
The majority of patients in this longitudinal, tertiary clinic-based sample had improvement in ocular surface staining score by final visit owing to proper treatment escalation. Treatments used, improvement achieved, and corneal complication rates were similar in both SS and non-SS dry eye groups.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.