Characteristics of tear meniscus using a spectral domain optical coherence tomography in medically controlled glaucoma

PURPOSE: To compare the tear meniscus height (TMH) and tear meniscus depth (TMD) between medically controlled glaucoma subjects and age-matched controls. METHODS: This prospective, cross-sectional, observational study included 50 patients with medically controlled glaucoma and 50 age-matched controls. Glaucoma subjects using topical medications for the duration of more than 1 year were included. The age-matched controls were participants with no history of glaucoma, dry eye, or any other diseases affecting the ocular surface. All the participants underwent TMH and TMD scan using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), which was followed by ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire administration. RESULTS: The mean ages of glaucoma subjects and age-matched controls were 40 ± 22 and 39 ± 21 years, respectively (P > 0.05). Of them, 40% (n = 22) were on single drug therapy or monotherapy and 60% (n = 28) were on multidrug therapy. TMH and TMD of glaucoma subjects and age-matched controls were 101.27 ± 31.86 versus 230.63 ± 49.82 μm and 70.60 ± 27.41 versus 167.37 ± 57.06 μm, respectively. Subjects on multidrug therapy showed a statistically significant reduction in TMH and TMD when compared to age-matched controls. CONCLUSION: Preservative containing topical glaucoma medications affects the ocular surface, including the tear film. The prolonged duration and multiple combination of this drug usage serve as potential factors for causing reduction in the tear meniscus levels leading to drug-induced dryness.