The height and radius of the tear meniscus and methods for examining theseparameters

Purpose. To investigate the relationship between the radius of tear meniscu s curvature (TMR) and tear meniscus height (TMH). Methods. Twenty-nine eyes of dry-eye patients tall left eyes, two males, 27 females, aged 26 to 85 y ears [mean +/- SD; 60 +/- 14.4]) were enrolled in the study. TMR was measur ed at the tear meniscus of the central lower lid with a newly developed vid eomeniscometer. At the same region of the eye, TMHs were measured without f luorescein (TMH-M) and after 5 minutes with fluorescein (TMH-MF), using a s lit lamp equipped with a micrometer. TMHs were also measured on cross-secti onal photographs of the fluorescein-stained meniscus (TMH-P). Results. The values of TMR, TMH-M, TMH-MF, and TMH-P (mean +/- SD, mm) were 0.22 +/- 0.0 9, 0.19 +/- 0.09, 0.21 +/- 0.14, and 0.24 +/- 0.09, respectively. There was significant correlation between TMR and TMH-M, TMH-MF, and TMH-P values (T MR versus TMH-M: r = 0.596, p = 0.0005; TMR versus TMH-MF: r = 0.587, p = 0 .0006; TMR versus TMH-P: r = 0.605, p = 0.0003). Conclusion. There is a sig nificant correlation between TMR and TMH. Videomeniscometry has some merits over conventional methods for obtaining tear meniscus parameters.