Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access

Abstract

Changes by Optical Coherence Tomography after Ocular Miniaturization of the Cornea Using Artificial Tears in a Spanish Population

Pedro Rocha-Cabrera, Ricardo Rodríguez de la Vega, Basilio Valladares and Jacob Lorenzo-Morales

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of three different artificial tears (0.4% hyaluronic acid, a combination of polyethylene glycol 400 4 mg/ml - Propylene glycol 3 mg/ml, and the combination of 5 mg/ml of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and glycerin) to increase the corneal OCT pachymetry in a group of patients. Material and methods: 53 patients admitted to the Ophthalmology Unit in Hospital San Juan de Dios, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain were analyzed by corneal OCT and the obtained data were compared before and after application of artificial tears. The pachymetry was compared with the instillation of sodium fluorescein and hydrochloride oxybuprocaine prior to the use of the tear and after application of tears. Results: We observed that pachymetry increased after application of the three different artificial tears mentioned above. No significant differences were observed when the efficacy of the three different artificial tears preparations was compared after statistical analysis. Conclusions: In this study, the efficacy of the artificial tears to raise pachymetry was demonstrated and also this increase was mainly dependent on the corneal epithelium layer in the patients included in this study.