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CME: Dry Eye Disease: Therapeutic Updates and Optimizing Treatment

ACCREDITATION EXPIRED: July 30, 2021

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Dry eye disease (“dry eye”), also referred to as ocular surface disease and keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is a condition with a diverse group of etiologies and clinical presentations. Common symptoms include discomfort or pain, visual disturbance, and tear film instability. Compared with those without the condition, patients with dry eye experience higher rates of lost of work productivity, impaired of daily activities, medical visits, and sleep and mood disorders, and worse emotion well-being and overall quality of life. Although dry eye prevalence varies based on a variety of patient factors, estimates place the prevalence of dry eye as high as 19% of the adult population and more than 34% of the elderly population.

Due to the widespread impact of dry eye, it has been termed a “modern epidemic,” yet current clinical practice in terms of understanding, diagnosing, and managing dry eye is suboptimal, representing a potential gap in care. Dry eye is both underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: ophthalmology and optometry; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice or are interested in ophthalmology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with dry eye.

Commercial Support Disclosure: This activity is supported by an educational grant from Shire and Bausch+Lomb.

Learners may participate in this activity free of charge.

Release Date: July 30, 2019 -- Expiration Date: July 30, 2021

Faculty: Benjamin Bert, MD

Agenda

 

Introduction, Disclosures

Introduction content: cursory refresher and review of dry eye

  • Prevalence and epidemiology
  • Impact on vision interventions, quality of life
    • Contact lenses
    • Cataract surgery
    • Refractive surgery
    • Pathophysiological implications
    • The “vicious cycle”
      • Hyperosmolarity
      • Morphological changes
      • Inflammation
      • Causes of hyperosmolarity
        • Decreased tear production
        • Increased tear evaporation
        • When to screen or refer for autoimmune disorders

Diagnosing dry eye

  • Symptoms vs signs: Discordance abounds
  • Patient history and symptoms
    • Utility of questionnaires
    • Objective clinical tests
      • Advanced diagnostics
      • Patient case(s)

Therapeutic management of dry eye

  • Ocular lubricants: an adjunct role
    • Studies & meta-analyses comparing efficacies
    • Anti-inflammatory agents
      • When ocular lubricants aren’t enough
      • Expectation management
      • Surgical interventions
      • Emerging drugs
      • Patient case(s)

Summary, best practice recap, conclusion

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

  • Describe the pathophysiology of dry eye with a focus on the factors affecting therapeutic mechanisms.
  • Identify symptoms of dry eye and optimize diagnostic procedures to initiate treatment as early as possible.
  • Accurately diagnose, discuss, and apply treatment strategies in dry eye
  • Evaluate available and emerging therapeutic options for dry eye, and individualize patient treatment regimens.

Accreditation

ACCREDITATION FOR THIS COURSE HAS EXPIRED. YOU MAY VIEW THE PROGRAM, BUT CME / CE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND NO CERTIFICATE WILL BE ISSUED.


Faculty Disclosure and Resolution of COI

As a provider of continuing medical education, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. In accordance with this policy, faculty and educational planners must disclose any significant relationships with commercial interests whose products or devices may be mentioned in faculty presentations, and any relationships with the commercial supporter of the activity. The intent of this disclosure is to provide the intended audience with information on which they can make their own judgments. Additionally, in the event a conflict of interest (COI) does exist, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure that the COI is resolved in order to ensure the integrity of the CME activity. For this CME activity, any COI has been resolved thru content review ScientiaCME.

 

Faculty Disclosure: Dr. Benjamin Bert, MD, Assistant Professor UCLA,  has no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose. 

Disclosures of Educational Planners: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, President of ScientiaCME, has no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose.

Commercial Support Disclosure: This activity is supported by an educational grant from Shire and Bausch+Lomb.

Instructions

  • Read the learning objectives above
  • Take the Pre-Test (optional). Completion of the pre-test will help us evaluate the knowledge gained by participating in this CME activity.
  • View the online activity. You may view this is in more than one session, and may pause or repeat any portion of the presentation if you need to.
  • Minimum participation threshold: Take the post-test. A score of 70% or higher is required to pass and proceed to the activity evaluation.
  • Complete the activity evaluation and CME registration. A CE certificate will be emailed to you immediately.

Cultural/Linguistic Competence & Health Disparities

System Requirements

PC
Windows 7 or above
Internet Explorer 8
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
MAC
Mac OS 10.2.8
Safari or Chrome or Firefox
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
Internet Explorer is not supported on the Macintosh

*Required to view Printable PDF Version

Perform Pre-Test (optional)

Please take a few minutes to participate in the optional pre-test. It will help us measure the knowledge gained by participating in this activity.

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Glaucoma: Optimizing pharmacotherapeutic management strategies