ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1593430
Lid wiper epitheliopathy:an early sign of dry eye diagnosis
Provisionally accepted
- First Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the severity of lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) and ocular surface features and evaluate the potential of LWE as an early diagnosis indicator of dry eye.Eighty-eight patients diagnosed with dry eye by TFOS DEWS II were divided into two groups based on the Korb grading: the mild group and moderate-severe group.Ocular assessments included examination of LWE,tear-film lipid layer thickness (LLT) measurement,the partial blinking rate (PBR) calculation,the fluorescein tear breakup time (FTBUT) measurement,determining corneal fluorescein staining score,eyelid margin score and meiboscore.In patients with upper LWE, the PBR and ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score were higher and LLT was lower in the moderate-severe LWE group (p<0.05).In patients with lower LWE,the PBR and lower eyelid margin score were significantly higher in the moderate-severe LWE group (p<0.05).The upper LWE staining score was moderately and significantly associated with the lower LWE staining score.Compared with LWE,if the FTBUT was used as the diagnostic indicator according to the TFOS DEWS II, China or ADES, the missed diagnosis rate fluctuated from 5.7% to 54.5%.The severity of LWE is related to dry eye indicators such as the PBR,FTBUT,eyelid margin score,OSDI and meiboscore. Both upper and lower LWE can be used as diagnostic criteria for dry eye.Moreover,compared with the FTBUT,LWE is more suitable as an early sign of dry eye diagnosis.
Keywords: dry eye, lid wiper, Lid wiper epitheliopathy, partial blinking rate, lipid layer thickness
Received: 14 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Huang, Song, Li and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoming Yan, First Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
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