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. 2024 Jul 30:18:2175-2182.
doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S456621. eCollection 2024.

Corneal Epithelial Thickness in Sjogren's Disease: A Pilot Study

Brian J Nguyen  1 , Angela S Gupta  1 , Jocelyn He  1   2 , Gui-Shuang Ying  1   2 , Vatinee Y Bunya  1 , Ilaria Macchi  1 , Mina Massaro-Giordano  1
Affiliations

Corneal Epithelial Thickness in Sjogren's Disease: A Pilot Study

Brian J Nguyen et al. Clin Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: This study was to assess corneal epithelial thickness (CET) in patients with Sjogren's disease (SjD).

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted of SjD patients from September 2021 to January 2022. Patient demographics, unanesthetized Schirmer's test, serologic markers, and symptoms as measured by the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) were reviewed. Epithelial thickness from both eyes was measured using anterior segment OCT at the central 3mm and concentric 5mm, 7mm, and 9mm zones for the superior, temporal, inferior, and nasal corneal quadrants. Associations between corneal epithelial thickness with patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and symptoms were evaluated using regression models.

Results: Fifteen SjD patients (100% female) were included with a mean age of 58.4 years. Patients with Sjogren's disease had a significantly thinner superior corneal epithelium compared to the inferior epithelium (mean 47.7mm vs 53.1mm, p = 0.001). The epithelial thickness mean standard deviation (MSD) was significantly inversely correlated with the unanesthetized Schirmer test (r=-0.39, p = 0.005), suggesting that an overall variability of CET correlates with decreased aqueous tear production. SS-A, SS-B, ANA, and RF positivity were not associated with any measures of CET.

Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that there is significant superior versus inferior thinning of corneal epithelium in Sjogren's patients. There was a significant correlation between variability of corneal epithelial thickness and decreased tear production in Sjogren's patients. Further larger studies are needed to understand the relationship of CET with objective and subjective measurements of ocular surface disease.

Keywords: Sjogren’s disease; anterior segment OCT; corneal epithelial thickness.

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Conflict of interest statement

MMG reports affiliations with Dompe, Kala, Oyster Point, Claris. VB is advisory board for Kowa. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean corneal epithelial thickness in 15 Sjogren’s patients. Corneal epithelial thickness measured by anterior segment OCT, notated as mean (standard deviation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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