1. ¹Department of Ophthalmology & Otorhinolaryngology, State University of Campinas, (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
2. ²Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas, (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
3. ³Department of Physiology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas, (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
4. ⁴Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Center of Hematology and Hemotherapy, State University of Campinas, (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
5. ⁵Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil

Correspondence: Dr EM Rocha, Departamento Oftalmo, Otorrino e CCP, FMRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14049-900 – Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. E-mail: emrocha@fmrp.usp.br

Received 6 December 2005; Revised 29 March 2006; Accepted 15 May 2006; Published online 19 June 2006.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the frequency and clinical characteristics of ocular complications and their risk factors, as well as autologous serum tears (AST) for the treatment of dry eye in these patients. Data from the files of 124 patients who had undergone allogeneic haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HPCT) were evaluated. In addition, 33 HPCT patients were examined and their data were compared with controls. Analysis of tears and AST was performed. Dry eye manifestation occurred in 32% of patients and was positively correlated with age over 27 years (P=0.05), peripheral blood progenitor cell transplant (P=0.002), chronic graft-versus-host disease (P=0.0027), and chronic or acute myeloid leukaemia (P=0.001). Dry mouth and Schirmer test <5 mm were predictive factors for dry eye in HPCT patients (P=0.002 and odds ratio 3.9 and P=0.007, odds ratio=5.9, respectively). Microbiological analysis revealed that six of 11 AST samples were contaminated after 30 days of use. The present study supports the role of potential risk factors for ocular complications and key elements to detect alterations in the tear film from HPCT patients. In addition, AST contamination must be considered after longer periods of use.