Evaluation of Corneal Reflectance in Sjögren's Syndrome Dry Eye

To measure corneal layers’ light reflectance (LR) in eyes affected by dry eye disease caused by Sjögren's syndrome (SSDE) with corneal confocal microscopy (IVCM) and to study the correlations with tear film tests. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six patients affected by SSDE and 36 healthy subjects (HS) were enrolled in this retrospective study, participants of both groups were age and sex matched. Each study participants had a complete eye visit and break up time (BUT), Schirmer test, with and without stimulation, at the end of the visit an IVCM scan was performed. LR measured by IVCM at Bowman membrane (BM) level and at 50 µm, at 100 µm and at 200 µm deeper was compared in the two groups of participants. The correlations between LR measurements and tear film test results were investigated. Results: In SSDE eyes, LR was significantly higher (p<0.001) in SSDE patients at BM level (+14.43 ± 3.27 LRU) and also in the other levels evaluated, compared with HP. Good correlations were observed between LR values at BM and Schirmer test ones with (r = -0.82) and without (r= -0.81) stimulation and BUT (r= 0.80) in SSDE eyes. Correlations values were Adecreasing the deeper corneal layers. Conclusion: Even if need to be verified in further studies with a larger population, results obtained in this study suggest that IVCM could be an interesting and effective tool in evaluating the SSDE patients and it could be adopted by physicians’ community because it seems very promising.