Abstract
Objective
To examine the effect of pregnancy on the lacrimal system through tear osmolarity
measurement and the Schirmer test.
Material and Method
The study consisted of two groups of 30 women between 20 and 40 years old; the women
in the study group were in their first trimester of pregnancy, and the women in the
control group were not pregnant and did not have any diseases other than refractive
error. Tear osmolarity measurement with the TearLab osmolarity system and tear function
test Schirmer 1 were carried out on one, randomly chosen eye of each participant.
The pregnant women’s measurements were repeated on the same eye in their last trimester.
Results
The study group’s first trimester tear osmolarity measurement was 304.9 ± 8.0 mOsm/L,
while their last trimester tear osmolarity measurement was 300.2 ± 7.1mOsm/L and the
control group’s was 306.3 ± 6.2 mOsm/L. There was a statistical difference between
the study group’s first and last trimester results and between the study group’s last
trimester and the control group’s results (p < 0.05). The Schirmer test results were
18.1 ± 6.3 mm for the study group’s first trimester, 16.6 ± 6.9 mm for the last trimester
and 21.3 ± 9.0 mm for the control group. There was a statistically significant difference
between the study group’s last trimester results and the control group’s Schirmer
test results (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Both the tear osmolarity values and Schirmer values were found to decrease significantly
towards the end of pregnancy. These results suggest that decrease in both test results
may play a protective role in the ocular surface during pregnancy.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 24, 2018
Accepted:
October 11,
2018
Received in revised form:
July 14,
2018
Received:
March 9,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
