Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography

Aim: To evaluate the role of anterior segment--optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in the diagnosis of punctal stenosis and to compare punctal parameters before and after medical treatment. Patients and Methods: The study was conducted on 40 eyes of 24 patients who had acquired inflammatory punctal stenosis and had persistent epiphora (persistent epiphora group--PEG), and 20 eyes of 10 subjects with normal punctal openings as a control group (control group--CG). We measured the outer punctal diameter (OPD), recorded the visibility of the internal punctum and punctal depth (PD) using AS-OCT, before and 1 month after treatment with preservative free methylprednisolone 5% eye drops. Punctal diameter, tear meniscus height (TMH) and Munk's score were compared to the control group before and after treatment. Results: The mean OPD of the PEG before treatment (455.5 [+ or -] 174 [micro]m) was significantly smaller than that of the CG (590.9 [+ or -] 106.6 [micro]m) (P= 0.002). The mean OPD of the PEG significantly increased to 484.6 [+ or -] 175.5 [micro]m after treatment (P