Dry eye syndrome and the fundus periphery. Correlations in diagnosis and treatment

Purpose: Comparison of dry eye syndrome stages with intensity of changes in peripheral retina in patients undergoing medical therapy.Material and methods. The clinical study involved 94 patients with mild and moderate dry eye syndrome (DES). Group 1 and Group 2 were both comprised of 25 patients; group 3 was comprised of 44 patients. The observation period was 6 months. Parameters of the anterior eye surface and intensity of changes in the peripheral retina were subjected to evaluation and comparison.Results. The study has shown, that the radius of the tear meniscus, surface tension coefficient and the number of areas stained with fluorescein significantly correlate with the probability of changes in the peripheral retina. The interrelation between the probable formation of changes in the peripheral parts of the retina and the indicators of tear production was revealed in all patients. After 3 months the performed treatment led to the disappearance of the initial correlation between the factors: on visits 3 and 4 logit-models appeared to be unreliable, that meant the absence of interrelation between the probability of formation of changes in the peripheral retina and indicators characterizing the condition of the anterior ocular surface or tear production.Conclusion. The correlation between changes in the peripheral parts of the retina and tear production was described.