editor’s perspective

Updating Our Knowledge of Dry Eye

BY JASON J. NICHOLS, OD, MPH, PHD, FAAO

July has been the Annual Dry Eye Issue of Contact Lens Spectrum since 2009. We hope you have found it valuable as the “go-to” resource for clinical and scientific information about all facets and types of dry eye disease. This current issue includes information on severe ocular surface disease, building a dry eye practice, and Sjögren’s syndrome, among other topics. Also included is our biennial Report on Dry Eye Diseases, which is based upon market research that we conduct on trends in diagnosis, management, and treatment of dry eye conditions.

Looking back, it is hard to believe that it has been nearly seven years since the publication of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society’s Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS) report. These workshops take time to complete—perhaps a good 18 to 24 months—making it likely that DEWS was started as early as 2005. The DEWS report can be accessed free of charge online at www.tearfilm.org/dewsreport.

In considering the wealth of information and knowledge gained since then, it may be time to once again organize and conduct a similar activity. Consensus-based knowledge and summary of the dry eye field is indeed timely, particularly when it is done in a critical and evidence-based fashion.

What new knowledge do we have now on dry eye that was not included in the 2007 DEWS report? I believe that the time is right to open this next chapter.