Dry Eye Syndrome Pathophysiology, Optimizing Diagnostics, Grouping, Treatment and Prevention

Dear Colleagues,

In today’s world's medicine, ocular surface complaints have become very frequent. Aside from being often temporary issues such as after the most common surgeries, i.e. cataract and glaucoma operations, dry eye complaints are amongst the most frequent single ocular symptoms the general practitioner or ophthalmic caretaker encounters. Diagnosis and treatment of this condition are, on the other hand, often puzzling and time-consuming. One feature of the dry eye syndrome is the dissociation between complaints (symptoms) and objective signs, which can make diagnosis and treatment difficult and vague. Dry eye disease also affects visual acuity and visual performance and, consequently, the performance and functionality of an individual. A clear definition of dry eye syndrome is a key issue for the ophthalmologist and ocular care provider. The distinction between a complaint and a disease is essential, as it is decisive for establishing treatment and further care. Any postponement of the efficient treatment of a disease to later stages could enhance the risk of transforming a complaint into disease. “Dry eye” as a condition requires a well-defined updated definition. Considering the wealth of increasing documentation reporting new clues and insights in its pathophysiology, we invite our colleagues to share their recent results to optimize the diagnosis of dry eye disease and the grouping of patients according to disease severity, as well as to suggest treatment regimens. With the introduction of a plethora of new topical agents, even preservative-free compositons, new risk factors for dry eye disease have been identified, such as osmotic stress. Therefore, any therapy could alter the the ocular surface homeostasis and in that even preventive care can impose a risk. It is the intention of this Special Issue to gather data on the most actual, and relevant insights in order to create easily applicable models of dry eye disease, which could facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of this condition, thus alleviating the suffering of patients.

Assoc. Prof. Gysbert van Setten, MD PhD
Guest Editor

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• Definition of Dry eye
• Key indicators
• ocular surface diagnostics
• Staining indices