[Polaroid oscopic diagnosis of early corneal dystrophic changes in dry eye syndrome]

The current methods widely used in ophthalmology to examine patients to diagnose the dry eye syndrome and to trace the course of a process are invasive. Both the Norn test using stains and the Schirmer test with the filter paper strips being inserted are stimuli that affect the rate of tear generation, which misrepresents the data obtainable. The developed procedures for examining the eye in polarized light permit one to considerably reduce the invasiveness of patient examination. The study indicated the high efficiency and diagnostic value of the proposed procedures in the examination of patients with the dry eye syndrome. Polarization filters available in the standard kit of up-to-date slit lamps make it possible to use the proposed procedures without any modification of ophthalmological equipment in wide clinical practice.