Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
New quick tear volume test for dogs compared to standard methods
By Miyasaka, Keiichi et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2019·Echo Electricity Co., Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A novel strip meniscometry method for measuring aqueous tear volume in dogs: Clinical correlations with the Schirmer tear and phenol red thread tests.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study involving 621 dogs tested a new method for measuring tear volume called strip meniscometry (SMT) to see how it compares with traditional tests for eye dryness. The dogs had their tear production measured using SMT, the Schirmer tear test, and the phenol red thread test. Results showed that SMT was effective in identifying dogs with low tear production, making it a potentially better option for quickly diagnosing tear deficiency. This could help veterinarians assess eye health more efficiently.
People also search for: dog eye problems · tear deficiency in dogs · Schirmer tear test for dogs · measuring tear production in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The strip meniscometry test (SMT) is a novel method for quantitative measurement of tear volume with only five seconds. We aimed to evaluate clinical correlations of SMT with the gold standard Schirmer tear test (STT) and phenol red thread test (PRT) in dogs, including normal and tear-deficient eyes. ANIMALS STUDIED: Left eyes from 621 outpatient dogs with and without ocular disorders were evaluated. PROCEDURES: Each subject underwent SMT, PRT, and STT without topical anesthesia in the described order with five-minute intervals. The total population was divided into four groups by classifying tear deficiency severity based on STT results: "severe" (0-5 mm/min), "moderate" (6-10 mm/min), "subclinical" (11-14 mm/min), and "normal" (15 or more mm/min). RESULTS: The strongest correlation coefficient was found between SMT-STT (0.676), followed by PRT-STT (0.637) and SMT-PRT (0.600) pairs. Mean(SD) scores of SMT, PRT, and STT in total population were 9.47 (4.08) mm/5 s, 33.30 (8.52) mm/15 s, and 16.47 (7.01) mm/min. Significant differences were found among STT-classified groups, both using SMT and PRT results. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves revealed that SMT better agreed with STT than PRT; agreement increased with increasing STT severity. A cutoff for SMT was identified at 10 mm/5 s to discriminate normal eyes from tear-deficient eyes, yielding high sensitivities and acceptable specificities. CONCLUSIONS: SMT could be superior to PRT for discriminating tear-deficient eyes. The high sensitivity of SMT could be useful as an initial diagnostic tool to rule out normal eyes with the short testing time.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30900351/