Tear evaporation rates: What does the literature tell us?

Abstract

Purpose: A previous literature review reported tear evaporation rates (TERs) from studies conducted on rabbits and humans between 1941 and 2003. Closer examination of the presented data revealed inaccuracies in the reporting of some values. This paper presents updated tables of TERs using values from the original papers cited in the review, in addition to incorporating new studies published between 2003 and 2016.

Methods: A copy of each paper cited in the literature review was obtained and checked against the evaporation rate reported in the review. If the expected value could not be found in the cited paper, other papers by the same author were consulted to see if the value had been reported elsewhere. A PubMed and Scopus database search was conducted to find papers published on tear evaporimetry since 2003.

Results: Two new tables of TERs were created, based on the values reported by the original author. To aid in interpretation, the majority of results are expressed in units of x 10^-7 g/cm²/sec. Where it was not possible to convert these values, some values are expressed as x 10^-7 g/sec, x 10^-7 g/sec/eye or W/min.

Conclusions: Two new tables of TERs have been compiled to provide an accurate representation of the values reported in the original papers. These tables can be used as a point of reference for other researchers to compare their results.

Keywords: Dry eye; Evaporimetry; Meibomian gland dysfunction; Tear evaporation.