Effect of different lubricant eye gels on tear film thickness as measured with ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography.

Abstract

To compare the effect of a single drop of different lubricant eye gels on tear film thickness (TFT) as measured with ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) in patients with mild-to-moderate dry eye disease (DED). The study followed a randomized, single-masked, observer-blinded parallel group design. Patients received a single dose of either unpreserved trehalose 3%+hyaluronic acid 0.15% (TH), hyaluronic acid 0.2% (HA) or polyethylene glycol 0.4%+propylene glycol 0.3% (PP) eye drops. In total, 60 patients were included and TFT was measured using a custom-built UHR-OCT system. The mean TFT at baseline was 3.5±0.7μm. There was a significant difference in the time-course of TFT between the three groups (p=0.001 between groups). Ten minutes after instillation, TFT increased by 155.8±86.6%, 65.7±71.5% and 33.4±19.6% in the PP, TH and HA group, respectively (p<0.001 between groups). Thirty minutes after instillation, the effect of all three different agents on TFT was comparable. Sixty and 120min after administration, a significant increase in TFT was only seen for the TH group, but not for the other products (60min: p<0.021 between groups; 120min: p<0.037 between groups). In conclusion, we observed differences in TFT after administration of the lubricant gels. Ten minutes after instillation, a pronounced increase in TFT was observed in all groups. As compared to the other products, the combination of trehalose 3%+hyaluronic acid 0.15% offers a significantly longer increase in TFT indicating for a longer residence time.