Cornea Flashcards
SPK: symptoms?
pain, photophobia, red eye, FBS, mildly decreased vision
SPK: signs?
pinpoint K epi defects that stain with fluorescein.
- may be confluent if severe
- staining pattern may allude to etiology
- pain is relieved by anesthetic drops
What conditions are a/w SPK with a superior staining pattern?
- CL-related disorder
- FB under upper eyelid
- Superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis
- Vernal conjunctivitis
What conditions are a/w SPK with an interpalpebral staining pattern?
- Dry eye syndrome
- Neurotrophic keratopathy
- UV burn/ photokeratopathy
What conditions are a/w SPK with an Inferior staining pattern?
- Blepharitis
- Exposure keratopathy
- Topical drug toxicity (eg. neomycin, gentamicin, trifluridine, atropine, preservatives)
- Conjunctivitis
- Trichiasis/distichiasis (may be superior SPK as well)
- Entropion or ectropion (may be superior SPK as well)
SPK: what history should be specifically asked about?
Trauma, CL wear, eye drops, discharge or eyelid matting, chemical or UV exposure, snoring or sleep apnea, time of day when worse
SPK: physical exam to specifically look for?
evaluate K, eyelid margin, tear film with fluorescein, evert upper and lower lids
-check for eyelid closure, position, laxity, look for inward growing lashes
Recurrent Corneal Erosion: signs on exam?
- Localized irregularity and mobility of the K epithelium (fluorescein may outline the area with negative or positive staining)
- K abrasion
- Epithelial changes may resolve w/in hours of symptom onset so abnormalities may be subtle or absent on presentation
Recurrent Corneal Erosion: results from damage to the corneal epithelium or epithelial basement membrane from one of the following:
- Anterior corneal dystrophy: EBMD (MC), Reis-Bucklers, Thiel-Behnke, and Meesmann dystrophies
- Previous traumatic corneal abrasion - may have been years prior
- Stromal K dystrophy: Lattice, granular, and macular dystrophies
- Corneal Degeneration: Band Keratopathy, Salzmann nodular degeneration
- Keratorefractive, K transplant, cataract surgery, or any surgery in which the K epithelium is removed
What history should you ask a patient with Recurrent Corneal Erosions?
Hx of K abrasion? Ocular surgery? Family history (corneal dystrophy)?
Dry Eye Syndrome: Symptoms?
- Burning, dryness, FBS, mildly-moderately decreased vision, excess tearing
- Usually bilateral and chronic
- Discomfort often out of proportion to clinical signs
Dry Eye Syndrome: symptoms are often exacerbated by what?
Smoke, wind, heat, low humidity, or prolonged use of the eye (eg. working on computer/reading w/ decreased blink rate)
Dry Eye Syndrome: Signs?
- Scanty or irregular tear meniscus (normal is > or = 0.5mm height with convex shape on inf lid margin - best to examine prior to instilling eye drops)
- Decreased TBUT (<10sec indicates tear film instability)
- PEEs, +rose bengal or lissamine green staining
Isolated areas of repeated early tear break-up may indicate what?
Focal K surface irregularity
Tear film instability should show up as randomly located tear film defects
Dry Eye Syndrome: what are the lifestyle related etiologies?
Arid climate, allergen exposure, smoking, extended periods of reading/computer work/TV viewing
Dry Eye Syndrome: what are the connective tissue disease -related etiologies?
- Sjogren syndrome,
- RA,
- Granulomatosis with polyangiitis,
- SLE
Dry Eye Syndrome: what are the main categories of etiologies?
- Idiopathic (evaporative, aqueous deficient, combination)
- Lifestyle related
- Connective tissue disease
- Conjunctival Scarring
- Drugs
- Infiltration of the lacrimal glands (sarcoidosis, tumor)
- Postradiation fibrosis of lacrimal glands
- Vitamin A deficiency
- S/p K refractive surgery
Dry Eye Syndrome: what are the drug etiologies?
- Oral contraceptives
- anticholinergics
- antihistamines
- antiarrhythmics
- antipsychotics
- antispasmodics
- tricyclic antidepressants
- beta blockers
- diuretics
- retinoids
- SSRIs
- Chemotherapy
Idiopathic Dry Eye Syndrome is typically found in menopausal and post-menopausal women. What are the 3 categories of idiopathic DES?
- Evaporative
- Aqueous deficient
- Combination: evaporative and aqueous deficiency, may include a mucin layer tear deficiency
Evaporative DES (subcategory of Idiopathic DES): describe the characteristics
Evaporative:
- lipid layer tear deficiency, 2. often a/w blepharitis or MGD.
- Sxs may be worse in the AM, w/ blurry vision upon awakening
Aqueous deficient DES (subcategory of Idiopathic DES): describe the characteristics
Aqueous deficient:
- Aqueous layer tear deficiency,
- aqueous production decreases with age.
- Sxs frequently worse later in the day or after extensive use of the eyes
Combination DES (subcategory of Idiopathic DES): describe the characteristics
Combination:
- evaporative and aqueous deficiency,
- may include a mucin layer tear deficiency
Describe the technique for the Anesthetized Schirmer test
- Apply topical anesthetic
- Dry excess tears from the eye
- Place Schirmer filter paper at the unction of middle and lateral 1/3 of lower eyelid in each eye for 5 minutes
- Eyes remain open with normal blinking
The Anesthetized Schirmer test measures what?
How is it interpreted?
- measures Basal Tearing only
- Abnormal is wetting of 5mm or less in 5 minutes
- <10mm is borderline