Binocular dynamic visual acuity in dry eye disease patients.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Optometry
• Vision Science

Background:

• Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent condition affecting the ocular surface.
• DED can manifest with various symptoms and signs impacting visual function.
• Dynamic visual acuity (DVA) measures visual performance during head or target motion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between binocular dynamic visual acuity (DVA) and dry eye disease (DED) parameters.
• To assess how DED severity and specific signs correlate with DVA.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study involving 73 DED patients.
• Evaluated binocular DVA at 40 and 80 degrees per second (dps).
• Assessed Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), tear meniscus height (TMH), tear film break-up time (TBUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), and meibomian gland (MG) morphology/function.
• Utilized a deep learning model to quantify MG area proportion.
• Analyzed correlations between DVA and DED parameters.

Main Results:

• Age, OSDI, CFS, MG expressibility, secretion quality, and eyelid margin abnormalities positively correlated with DVA.
• MG area proportion was negatively correlated with DVA.
• Patients with severe MG dropout (<25% area) and corneal fluorescein staining exhibited significantly worse DVA at both 40 and 80 dps compared to those without these conditions.

Conclusions:

• Binocular DVA is significantly associated with DED symptoms and clinical signs.
• Corneal fluorescein staining and severe meibomian gland dropout/dysfunction are linked to poorer DVA in DED patients.
• These findings underscore the impact of ocular surface integrity on dynamic visual function in DED.