Impact of 0.05% cyclosporine A on visual quality in patients with Post-refractive surgery dry eye

To investigate the effects of 0.05% Cyclosporine A (CsA) eye drops on visual quality including corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in post-refractive surgery dry eye syndrome (DES) patients.

This prospective, randomized study involves 52 patients diagnosed with post-refractive surgery DES. The control group (22 eyes) received conventional dry eye therapy (20% deproteinized calf serum, 3% diquafosol tetrasodium eye drops), and the treatment group (30 eyes) received an additional 0.05% CsA. Corneal HOAs, corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), tear break-up time (TBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), redness index, meibography, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), and subjective visual quality scores were assessed before and after three months.

Both groups showed significant improvements (with no significant differences between groups) in TBUT, redness index, and ODSI. Compared with the control group, corneal HOAs, visual quality subjective scores, and CFS scores improved significantly in the treatment group. For the treatment group, Z(3, 1) and Z(4, -2) over 3 mm zone as well as Z(3, 1), Z(4, -2) and Z(4, -4) term over 5 mm zone showed significant changes after three months of treatment.

The administration of 0.05% CsA significantly improved tear film stability and reduced corneal HOAs, enhancing visual quality in post-refractive surgery DES patients.

What is known Post-refractive surgery dry eye syndrome (DES) can degrade visual quality due to increased higher-order aberrations (HOAs) and tear film instability. Cyclosporine A (CsA) 0.05% has recognized anti-inflammatory effects and is commonly used to manage various types of DES. What is new The addition of 0.05% CsA to conventional DES treatment significantly improves corneal HOAs and subjective visual quality in post-refractive surgery patients. This study provides quantitative evidence that CsA not only relieves post-refractive DES symptoms but also enhances visual performance through improved tear film stability and optical quality.