Tear fluid pH in normals, contact lens wearers, and pathological cases

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Abstract
The pH of the conjunctival fluid was measured with a micro‐glass‐electrode in the inferior conjunctival fornix of 200 persons. Among 41 binocularly normal persons the pH was found to be 6.93 ± 0.24 (mean ± SD) of the primarily examined eye, independent of sex and age. The conjunctival fluid was significantly more acid in contact lens wearers (6.66 ± 0.28, N 26), but became normalized after removal of the lens (6.49 ± 0.32 → 7.09 ± 0.19, N 8, P < 0.001. The conjunctival fluid was significantly more alkaline in patients with lacrimal stenosis (7.13 ± 0.28, N = 11), keratitis (7.14 ± 0.28, N = 10), especially mycotic keratitis and post‐operatively (7.15 ± 0.22, N 10, the first 24 It after corneal transplantation). There was, perhaps, a tendency towards alkalisation in eves with keratoconjunctivitis sicca, whereas the pH was normal in the other pathological states, or the number of cases representing these may be too small.

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