Role of in vivo confocal microscopy in dry eye disease and eye pain

Abstract

Dry eye disease is known to have a lot of variability in presentation with overlapping subtypes. Understanding the pathology of this condition will guide therapeutic options. In vivo confocal microscopy is a diagnostic and imaging modality that provides high magnification and high-resolution images of all layers of the cornea and ocular surface. Various structures in the cornea and their alterations due to dry eye have been imaged. The impact of the tear film instability, inflammation, and altered homeostasis on the corneal epithelium, nerves, keratocytes, and dendritic cells have been evaluated across different studies. In addition, key features of IVCM in patients with neuropathic pain have been highlighted in this paper.