Abstract :
Purpose: To evaluate the tear film and calculate the prevalence of dry eye in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients
based on disease activity.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 50 Rheumatoid Arthritis patients was performed in
the Department of Ophthalmology, Smt. Kashibai Navale Medical College and Hospital, Pune. C-Reactive
Protein (CRP), and Rheumatoid Factor (RF) labs were done. All patients underwent complete ophthalmic
evaluation including assessment of visual acuity. Tear film assessment was done by calculating the Tear
Meniscus Height (TMH) on Anterior Segment-Optical Coherence Tomography (AS-OCT).
Results: Fifty patients were studied. 44 were females and 6 were males with a mean age of 47.34 ±
10.33years. TMH was abnormal (>300 microns) in 31 (62%) patients. RF was positive in 31 (62%) patients
while CRP was raised (>3.0mg/L) in 30 (60%) patients. RF Positivity had a significant correlation with
abnormal TMH values (c2 = 5.15, p=.02). Raised CRP was not significantly associated with abnormal
TMH values (c2 = 0.39, p=.54).Conclusion: Dry eye evaluation should be considered in RA patients
irrespective of the disease activity.
Keyword :
Dry eye, Disease activity, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Tear meniscus height