What may be an underlying condition of ocular surface disease?
DEFINITION. Ocular surface disease indicates damage to the surface layers of the eye, namely the cornea and conjunctiva. There are many causes ocular surface disease, but the 2 most common ones are “dry eye syndrome” and “blepharitis”.
What are serum tears?
Serum tears are eye drops made out of a patient’s own blood. Serum is the somewhat clear fluid that remains after the cells and most of the proteins are removed from the blood. These drops have healing and nurturing properties beyond that of commercially available artificial tears.
How long does autologous serum last?
Since these eye drops are made fresh from your blood serum, the United States Pharmacopeia standard recommends a 45 day expiration date for the prescription while it is stored in the freezer. Once you move an individual bottle for immediate use to the fridge, they will expire after 3 days.
What is an ocular surface evaluation?
Jackson checks for the signs and symptoms of Ocular Surface/Dry Eye disease using several quick and painless tests to measure visual clarity, tear production, ocular surface dryness and damage to the cornea or conjunctiva, and these tests will help determine the severity of the dry eye and determine the appropriate …
What does it mean to have ocular surface disease?
Ocular surface disease (OSD) refers to a blanket condition covering many ailments that can hamper tear film and dry out the ocular surface. Patients presenting ocular surface disease represent a significant portion of any ophthalmologist’s practice. OSD is often undiagnosed and insufficiently treated.
What are the components of the ocular surface?
They contain components such as growth factors, fibronectin, and vitamins to support proliferation, migration, and differentiation of the corneal and conjunctival epithelium. A lack of these epitheliotrophic factors—for example, in dry eye, can result in severe ocular surface disorders such as persistent epithelial defects.
Are there any eye drops that treat ocular surface disease?
Before the definitive role of serum eye drops in the management of severe ocular surface disease can be established in a large randomised controlled trial this has to be evaluated in more detail.
How is autograft used to treat ocular surface disease?
Conjunctival autograft transplantation is a straightforward and popular surgical approach to alleviate inflammation and deterioration of the conjunctiva (clear, thin tissue of the eye) commonly associated with ocular surface disease.