Abstract
Purpose :
Despite the high prevalence of ocular surface pain as well as neurotrophic keratopathy, a thorough understanding of its causative factors and tools for appropriate diagnostic evaluation remain notably absent in many eye clinics. We performed a cross-sectional study to analyze corneal sensitivity measurements using a novel non-contact esthesiometer in a group of patients with a variety of ocular surface conditions and compared these with the corneal sensitivity measurements of healthy patients to examine demonstrable differences.
Methods :
We conducted the Standardized Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) Questionnaire and measurements with a non-contact quantitative corneal esthesiometer mounted on a slit lamp on 153 patients (303 total eyes) aged 10-88 years at a single eye clinic location. The SPEED Questionnaire assesses five ocular surface symptoms and their severity and frequency over the past week on a 4-point rating scale with scoring as follows: mild (0-5), moderate (6-14), and severe (15-40). The corneal esthesiometer delivers controlled air pulses at discrete pressure ranges as stimuli, allowing us to detect the minimum perceptible threshold and classify corneal sensitivity in mbar units: mildly sensitive (2-3), normal (3-5), mildly insensitive (5-7), moderately insensitive (7-9), severely insensitive (9-10), and no sensation (>10). We analyzed data within the electronic medical record, utilizing unpaired samples t-tests to compare groups.
Results :
Of 153 patients, 128 had an ocular condition and 25 were healthy. The mean corneal esthesiometry measurements for these groups were 3.9 mbar and 3.1 mbar, respectively (p=0.0026). Those with notable asymmetry between eyes among these groups were compared with a mean of 4.5 mbar for ocular condition (n=49) and 3.1 mbar for healthy (p = 0.0001). There was a significant mean difference between the eyes in those with asymmetry in the ocular condition and healthy groups: 2.2 mbar and 0.012 mbar (p=0.0001). There appeared to be no correlation among mean measurements to the SPEED Questionnaire results.
Conclusions :
The non-contact quantitative corneal esthesiometer is a decisive tool for detecting subclinical corneal dysesthesia and related pathologies. By using this diagnostic technique, ophthalmologists are able to prescribe treatment at an early stage and determine the effectiveness of intervention through corneal sensitivity.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.