Usefulness of Shack-Hartmann aberrometry for assessing ocular dryness

Resumen

PURPOSE: The potential of the Shack-Hartmann (SH) based wavefront analysis systems as assessing tools in the diagnosis and evaluation of the dry eye condition is evaluated. METHODS: The study was divided into three parts: 1) Standards classification and evaluation, scoring 71 SH patterns by 3 observers using the standards previously described. 2) Comparison of the evaluation of the SH patterns made on 13 eyes by the same 3 observers and the clinical evaluation of the dryness based on the superficial punctate keratitis. 3) Reliability of the test evaluating the intrasession variation of SH patterns keeping the eye open and on a keratoconic eye, and comparing the SH pattern valuation results with the clinical valuation. RESULTS: For the scoring of the 71 S-H patterns, 100% of the scores were within 1 grade difference for all three observers. When the SH pattern scoring for each of the three independent masked observers was compared with the clinical scoring by the single masked observer, nearly 50% were identical and nearly 90% were within 1 grade difference. Topography raw data (the ring displays) from a subset of these patients were found to have less correlation with the clinical scores than the S-H pattern scoring, and were often difficult to obtain in extremely dry eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The intrasession valuation and keratoconic eye valuation show that the system seems to be potentially reliable. SH grid pattern assessment may be a new aid in the diagnosis (and documentation) of dry eyes and the response to treatment.