Elsevier

The Ocular Surface

Volume 15, Issue 1, January 2017, Pages 65-76
The Ocular Surface

Clinical Practice
New Perspectives on Dry Eye Definition and Diagnosis: A Consensus Report by the Asia Dry Eye Society

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2016.09.003Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

For the last 20 years, a great amount of evidence has accumulated through epidemiological studies that most of the dry eye disease encountered in daily life, especially in video display terminal (VDT) workers, involves short tear film breakup time (TFBUT) type dry eye, a category characterized by severe symptoms but minimal clinical signs other than short TFBUT. An unstable tear film also affects the visual function, possibly due to the increase of higher order aberrations. Based on the change in the understanding of the types, symptoms, and signs of dry eye disease, the Asia Dry Eye Society agreed to the following definition of dry eye: “Dry eye is a multifactorial disease characterized by unstable tear film causing a variety of symptoms and/or visual impairment, potentially accompanied by ocular surface damage.” The definition stresses instability of the tear film as well as the importance of visual impairment, highlighting an essential role for TFBUT assessment. This paper discusses the concept of Tear Film Oriented Therapy (TFOT), which evolved from the definition of dry eye, emphasizing the importance of a stable tear film.

Key Words

consensus
definition of dry eye
diagnosis of dry eye
dry eye
tear film breakup time
tear film oriented therapy

Cited by (0)

The Asia Dry Eye Society is partially supported by Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Kazuo Tsubota reports grant support and honoraria from Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and holds the patent for the functional visual acuity measurement system by Kowa Co. Jun Shimazaki reports honoraria and consultancies to Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Murat Dogru reports grant support from Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Shigeru Kinoshita has grant support and honoraria from Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., and Senju Pharamaceutical Co. Ltd. Zuguo Liu reports grant support from Senju Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and, consultancies to Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The other authors report no financial disclosure.

Single-copy reprint requests to Kazuo Tsubota, MD, PhD (address below).