Abstract
Background In earlier studies, an irregular tear film could be responsible for artifacts in
imaging procedures in ophthalmology. As a result, this study will investigate the
influence of hyaluronic acid-containing tear substitutes of different viscosities
on the measurement results of optical coherence tomography and on the non-invasive
tear film break-up time.
Methods The study included three sessions in which three hyaluronic acid tear substitutes
of different viscosities (Hylo-Vision 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, OmniVision GmbH, Puchheim,
Germany) were applied to each subject. In 20 healthy volunteers, the non-invasive
tear film break-up time was measured before and after the application of the tear
substitutes using Keratograph 5M (Oculus GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany) and optical coherence
tomography using 3D OCT-2000 (Topcon, Hamburg, Germany).
Results The median age of the volunteers was 28.5 years. 11 women (55%) and 9 men (45%) were
examined. The non-invasive tear film break-up time improved significantly (p = 0.027)
after the application of 0.3% hyaluronic acid. In the study, no significant difference
was found in all OCT parameters used before and after application of the different
viscous hyaluronic acid-containing tear substitutes.
Conclusion In this study, no influence of tear substitutes containing different viscosities
of hyaluronic acid on the measurement results of optical coherence tomography could
be determined. Therefore, 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% hyaluronic acid can be applied to the
patient to improve the corneal surface before the examination with optical coherence
tomography, without influencing the measurement results of optical coherence tomography.
Key words
glaucoma - optical coherence tomography - viscosity - hyaluronate artificial tears
- dry eye
