Tear film breakup time tied to choroidal thickness, axial length in kids with DED

In children with dry eye disease (DED) symptoms, there appears to be a significant association between tear film breakup time (TBUT) and choroidal thickness (CT), which in turn is correlated with axial length (AL), a recent study has found.

“Because the parasympathetic nervous system affects the lacrimal glands and CT, we suggest that the parasympathetic nervous system might be a common factor upstream in the association between DED and myopia. Further study is needed to confirm this hypothesis,” the researchers said.

Seventy-two myopic children with DED symptoms (mean age 12.8 years, 61.1 percent boys) participated in the present analysis. Multiple regression analysis found that TBUT was significantly and inversely correlated with AL (β, –0.067; p=0.004). In turn, AL was also significantly associated with CT (r, –0.324; p=0.003). CT and TBUT likewise shared a significant correlation (R, 0.738; p<0.001).

In addition, AL correlated significantly with intraocular third-order aberrations (β, –21.8; p=0.02), and intraocular total higher order aberrations shared a significant and positive interaction (β, 21.2; p=0.048).

Similarly, AL was significantly associated with total ocular third-order aberrations (β, –41.7; p=0.045) and total ocular higher order aberrations (β, 43.6; p=0.049). Refraction parameters were not associated with total ocular higher order aberrations.

According to the researchers, these findings confirmed a quantitative relationship between myopia and DED facilitated by an inverse relationship between AL and TBUT.