Eye discomfort and air pollution

Discomfort eye syndrome (DES) comprises a series of 'minor' subjective symp toms in patients where no relevant clinical signs are observed suggesting o cular disease. Our study includes 100 DES patients, excluding video termina l users, selected from the First Aid Service of our Department over two pea k periods in both winter and summer time. The Schirmer test I, ferning test , breakup time and conjunctival cytology (scraping and imprint) were perfor med and data were related to sex, age and air pollution indexes, recorded i n the patients' living zones. Our results demonstrate that: (i) the ocular surface cytology and the analysis of tear film changes provide significant information in those patients where no other clinical signs are evident; (i i) DES symptoms are more frequent in women than in men (ratio about 2:1), b oth with ages over 51 years; (iii) DES is significantly associated with ocu lar surface inflammation, as detected by cytological methods, and (iv) ocul ar surface subclinical inflammation and ocular dryness are related to high concentrations of atmospheric polluters, in both sexes.