Emerging treatment paradigms of ocular surface disease: proceedings of the Ocular Surface Workshop

Abstract

The objective of the Ocular Surface Workshop in Rome, Italy, on 6 February 2009, was to enhance the understanding of ocular surface disease (OSD) through an exploration of the nature of its complexities and current treatment paradigms across Europe. It was hoped that the peer-to-peer discussions and updates regarding common knowledge, clinical practices and shared experiences at this workshop would subsequently shape future treatment approaches to OSD.

Ocular tolerability and efficacy of a cationic emulsion in patients with mild to moderate dry eye disease – A randomised comparative study

“…The inclusion and exclusion criteria corresponding to a mild to moderate dry eye disease were validated for all patients [5]. The initial characteristics of the study population are in agreement with literature data, with a predominance of women and patients over the age of 50 [1,6]. The initial characteristics were similar for both groups, apart from the percentage of women and the number of patients with cataract, which were higher in the CE group.…”

“…Dry eye is a chronic disease with a significant impact on the quality of life of patients [4]. Dry eye disease falls into two major classes: evaporative dry eye due to an anomaly in the quality of the tears, with instability and excessive evaporation of the tear film; and aqueous-deficient dry eye due to a decrease in tear secretion by the lacrimal glands [2,5,6]. In both cases a cascade reaction is set up, creating a vicious circle in which ocular dryness becomes chronic and the symptoms self-sustaining [2,5].…”

A Novel OCT Technique to Measure In Vivo the Corneal Adhesiveness for Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose in Humans and Its Validity in the Diagnosis of Dry Eye

“…Tear film breakup time (TBUT), either with invasive technique (application of substance on the eye, IBUT) or noninvasive (without applying any substance, NIBUT), despite its limitations, [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] is considered to be a valid surrogate measure of tear film stability. 6,16 Recently, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used to obtain detailed cross-sectional images of anterior tissues of the eye and to investigate the dynamic behavior of tears on the ocular surface, 17,18 suggesting to represent a promising tool to observe fine details of the cornea and understand new aspects regarding the tear film stability in vivo.…”

Dry Eyes in Rheumatic Disease

“…The mucus and aqueous components also exist as a concentration gradient rather than as independent layers, the mucus being more concentrated towards the epithelial surface [25]. Any deficiency, forced removal or insufficient production of any of the above mentioned layers results in the development of dry eyes with the consequent cascade of pro-inflammatory factors that cause the known symptoms of the condition.…”