Date: {{$ActivityAssignDate}}

Dear Dr. {{$doctorName}} ,


Subject: A multicentric, cross-sectional, observational survey study to understand the approach to diagnosis and management of dry eye disease in real world practice.


Dry eye syndrome (DES) is a disorder of the preocular tear film that results in damage to the ocular surface and is associated with symptoms of ocular discomfort. DES is also called keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), keratitis sicca, sicca syndrome, xerophthalmia, dry eye disease (DED), ocular surface disease (OSD), or dysfunctional tear syndrome (DTS), or simply dry eyes.1,2 Keratoconjunctivitis sicca is a Latin word and its literal translation is “dryness of the cornea and conjunctiva.” It may be helpful to know that “sicca” is part of the English word “desiccate.” The dry eye syndrome in which the eyes do not produce enough tears is also known as “Sjogren’s syndrome”.1,3

Dry eye disease is characterized by instability of the tear film that can be due to insufficient amount of tear production or due to poor quality of tear film, which results in increased evaporation of the tears. Dry eye therefore can mainly be divided into two groups, namely,


  • (1) aqueous production deficient dry eye disease;
  • (2) evaporative dry eye disease1

The DED diagnosis and management is complicated by variability in the signs and symptoms of the disease, as well as the often poor association between clinical manifestations and patient symptomology. Without universal consensus for a ‘gold standard’ diagnostic test, there is considerable variation in the approach to diagnose DED.4

Detailed patient history, thorough split-lamp examination, and additional tests as indicated should be included in the diagnostic evaluation of dry eye disease. Life style modification and artificial tears of various kinds are recommended if the symptoms are mild. Lid hygiene is helpful in the treatment of hyperevaporative dry eye, while collagen or silicon plugs can be used for partial occlusion to treat severe hyposecretory dry eye. The benefit of long-term topical anti-inflammatory treatment of moderate or severe dry eye disease with corticosteroids or cyclosporine A eye drops has been documented in clinical trials on a high evidence level.5

The purpose of this multicentric, cross-sectional, observational, survey study is to observe the approach to DED diagnosis and management among ophthalmologists in real world practice.

We invite you to participate in this survey. If you agree to participate, you will need to fill questionnaire based survey form.

We trust you and we are partners in promoting safe and effective drug therapy. In that spirit we hope you will consent to participate in this study. If you do, please sign and return the enclosed reply along with your visiting card for accuracy of records.


Yours truly,


Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited



1. Phadatare SP,Momin M, Nighojkar P, et al. A Comprehensive Review on Dry Eye Disease: Diagnosis, Medical Management, Recent Developments, and Future Challenges. Hindawi Publishing Corporation, Advances in Pharmaceutics Volume 2015, Article ID 704946, 12 pages


2. M. A. Lemp, C. Baudouin, J. Baum et al., “The definition and classification of dry eye disease: report of the definition and classification subcommittee of the international Dry Eye WorkShop,” Ocular Surface, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 75–92, 2007.


3. N. Delaleu, R. Jonsson, and M. M. Koller, “Sjogren’s syndrome,” ¨ European Journal of Oral Sciences, vol. 113, no. 2, pp. 101–113, 2005


4. Hantera MM. Trends in Dry Eye Disease Management Worldwide. Clin Ophthalmol. 2021 Jan 14;15:165-173.


5. Messmer EM. The pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of dry eye disease. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2015 Jan 30;112(5):71-81; quiz 82.