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Prominent Decrease of Tear Meniscus Height With Contact Lens Wear and Efficacy of Eye Drop Instillation.
Yukiko Nagahara1, Shizuka Koh, Naoyuki Maeda
1Department of Ophthalmology (Y.N., S.K., N.M., K.N., H.W.), Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan; and Department of Ophthalmology (H.W.), Kansai Rosai Hospital, Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan.
Soft contact lens wear significantly reduces tear meniscus height, especially high-water-content lenses. Diquafosol eye drops temporarily increase tear meniscus height with high-water-content lenses.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Optometry
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Soft contact lens (CL) wear can alter the ocular surface environment.
- Tear meniscus height (TMH) is a key indicator of tear film stability and ocular comfort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate changes in TMH with different water content (WC) soft CLs.
- To assess the effect of eye drop instillation on TMH during CL wear.
Main Methods:
- Anterior segment optical coherence tomography measured TMH in 20 subjects.
- Subjects wore high-WC (69%) and low-WC (24%) CLs.
- TMH was assessed after instilling diquafosol or saline eye drops.
Main Results:
- Both CL types significantly decreased TMH.
- High-WC CLs caused a greater TMH reduction than low-WC CLs.
- Diquafosol instillation significantly increased TMH with high-WC CLs at 5 minutes.
Conclusions:
- Soft CL wear, particularly high-WC CLs, reduces TMH.
- Diquafosol ophthalmic solution can temporarily improve TMH during high-WC CL wear.
- Diquafosol showed a trend towards greater TMH increase than saline.
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