Conjunctival Impression Cytology for Diagnosis and Grading of Dry Eye

Dry eye or tear film dysfunction is a common ophthalmic syndrome. Goblet cell density is significantly reduced in dry eye syndrome. The impression cytology is a useful test for the diagnosis of dry eye syndrome. The aim of the paper evaluates the conjunctival impression cytology as a diagnostic tool for diagnosis of dry eye and for grading the disease. This study is a prospective, and a non-randomized study that was held at Al-Zahraa University Hospital. It was conducted on sixty eyes of thirty patients. They were diagnosed clinically and by investigations as dry eye. Regarding impression Cytology \Nelson Grade, 14 eyes (23.3%) were grade 1 (mild), 23 eyes (38.3%) were grade 2 (moderate) and 23 eyes (38.3%) were grade 3 (severe). As the severity of dry eye increased, the cytology showed marked cell separation and lowering of N:C ratio with a decrease in goblet cell count. Conjunctival impression cytology provides detailed information about morphological alterations of the bulbar conjunctiva. It has proven to be useful in differentiating the degrees of dry eye disease.