Corneal epithelial thickness can reflect the stage of Parkinson's disease and the severity of dry eye.

Research overview

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PurposeTo systematically analyze corneal epithelial thickness (CET) distribution in Parkinson's disease (PD) using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and investigate its correlation with disease stage and dry eye severity.MethodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled 60 PD patients (120 eyes) and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (58 eyes). The accessed parameters included dry eye disease (DED) metrics, such as the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), Schirmer I test (sIt), tear breakup time (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), corneal sensitivity, and zonal CET measured by AS-OCT in central 2-mm, 5-mm, and 6-mm zones. Baseline PD characteristics included disease duration, levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage, Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinsond dPisease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS Part III), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).ResultsPD patients showed significantly higher OSDI and CFS (p p p p = 0.024). With advancing H-Y stage, peripheral CET progressively thinned, while OSDI increased and BUT and sIt decreased, indicating worsening DED.ConclusionThis study demonstrates, for the first time, that CET correlates with both dry eye severity and H-Y stage in PD. AS-OCT-based CET mapping may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for early neurodegeneration detection and guide ocular surface management.

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