The Dry Eye Review

Insights Into The Role of Osmolarity

Charles (Chuck) Aldridge, Jr., OD — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:26:47 +0000

Stephen Pflugfelder, MD provided a number of dry eye pearls in his article, “Tear Dysfunction and the Cornea: LXVIII Edward Jackson Memorial Lecture” published inthe December 2011 issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22019306 Regarding osmolarity and its role in dry eye, Dr. Pflugfelder shares some very useful insights into the role of osmolarity. Elevated [...]

Unmet Need in Dry Eye

David Eldridge, OD, FAAO — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:55:47 +0000

Dry Eye Disease is the most common pathology you will see in your clinic each day. Dr. Kelly Nichols addressed the need for clinicians to answer the call. From Contact Lenses Today: http://www.cltoday.com/new/issue_012212.asp Unmet Need in Dry Eye A recent “Industry News” article in the AOA News caught my attention and continues to intrigue me. The article [...]

Its just Dry Eye Disease, or is it?

David Eldridge, OD, FAAO — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:59:04 +0000

How many times have we as clinicians initially presumed “a default diagnosis” of Dry Eye Disease just based on symptoms? Dr. Bill Townsend discusses Conjunctivochalasis which is an example of “other causes” we must remember when patients are having symptoms of Dry Eye Disease. Conjunctivochalasis By William Townsend, OD, FAAO This individual has conjunctivochalasis, a [...]

Chronic BAK exposure is associated with an increase in tear osmolarity

Ben Sullivan, PHD — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:44:57 +0000

Dr. Eldridge began an interesting thread this past week regarding ocular surface disease in glaucoma patients. He reminded us that dry eye disease can often be silent in patients after chronic administration of BAK preservatives have reduced corneal sensitivity: http://thedryeyereview.com/2012/01/chronic-administration-of-bak-appears-to-alter-corneal-sensitivity/ An important corollary to this story comes from a study done by Dr. Antoine Labbé [...]

Breakthrough in Diagnosing Dry Eye and Staging Disease Severity

Editor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:37:56 +0000

In January’s edition of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today, Jay Pepose, MD, PhD says…. A lot depends on treating patients with dry eye disease. Nearly one in five individuals in North America has dry eye disease (DED); it may be one of the most common yet frequently undiagnosed and untreated problems seen every day by [...]

TearLab Osmolarity System CLIA Waiver Issued By FDA

Editor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:53:04 +0000

SAN DIEGO, January 24, 2012 — TearLab Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAR; TSX:TLB) (“TearLab” or the ”Company”) announced today that, after reviewing and accepting labeling submitted to it by the Company, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has now granted Waiver categorization under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (“CLIA”) for the TearLab® Osmolarity System. Elias Vamvakas, TearLab’s Chief [...]

Chronic administration of BAK appears to alter corneal sensitivity

David Eldridge, OD, FAAO — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:15:38 +0000

Ocular Surface Disease can be a major problem for glaucoma patients and could result in cell damage, discomfort, loss of quality of vision as well as Quality of Life issues. Patients may not be able to give reliable feedback regarding dry eye disease. In the Dec 2011 Journal of French Ophthalmology, Van Went et al [...]

Recent study shows preservative-free tafluprost offers effective treatment with less ocular surface impact for glaucoma patients

David Eldridge, OD, FAAO — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:28:41 +0000

We have known for years BAK is often a cause for ocular discomfort for patients. “Effects of preservative-free tafluprost on tear film osmolarity, tolerability, and intraocular pressure in previously treated patients with open-angle glaucoma” in Clinical Ophthalmology Jan 2012 looks at tear osmolarity, corneal staining and OSDI in patients treated with latanoprost preserved with BAK [...]

Diurnal variation of tear osmolarity in normal subjects measured by a new microchip system

Ben Sullivan, PHD — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:40:25 +0000

Normal subjects showed no variation over a day, confirming that a properly functioning tear film is characterized by its low and stable concentration. This study provides further evidence that eye-to-eye variability is the hallmark of Dry Eye Disease. As shown in Lemp et al. [AJO 2011], dry eye disease subjects showed significantly more eye-to-eye variation than [...]

ESTABLISHING A DRY EYE SUBSPECIALTY CLINIC

Editor — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:03:19 +0000

See this weeks Practice Pearl from Paul Karpecki, OD where he discusses the many diagnostic instruments he would like to include in his “dream dry eye practice”. He mentions the TearLab Osmolarity System, among others. http://www.revoptom.com/email/010912_pearl86_v2.html