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Relationship between tear-meniscus parameters and tear-film breakup
T R Golding1, A S Bruce, J C Mainstone
1Centre for Eye Research, School of Optometry, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
Purpose:
Several flaws exist with the lipid-diffusion model for tear-film breakup. The aim of this study was to test an alternative model of tear-film rupture in which the negative hydrostatic pressure in each tear meniscus (related to the tear-meniscus radius of curvature) is proposed to influence the formation of breaks in the tear film.
Methods:
Measurements of noninvasive breakup time (NIBUT) and tear-meniscus radius of curvature, height, width, and cross-sectional area (TMC, TMH, TMW, and XSA) were made for 15 aqueous-deficient dry-eye and 15 age-matched control subjects. An optic section of the inferior tear meniscus (colored with a minute volume of fluorescein) was photographed at x120 magnification, and images were computer analyzed.
Results:
A significant positive correlation was found between log NIBUT and TMC (r2 = 0.141; p < 0.05). Furthermore, all subjects with TMC < 0.340 mm had NIBUT < 15 s, and two thirds of subjects with TMC > 0.340 mm had NIBUT > 15 s. There was a moderate linear relationship between TMH and log NIBUT, indicating an association between tear volume and tear stability. TMC, TMH, and tear meniscus XSA measurements all showed good reliability.
Conclusions:
The association between highly curved tear menisci and rapid tear-film breakup times is consistent with the meniscus model of tear-film rupture. However, a causal relationship has yet to be established.
