TFOS DEWS III: Executive Summary

Victor L Perez; Wei Chen; Jennifer P Craig; Murat Dogru; Lyndon Jones; Fiona Stapleton; James S Wolffsohn; David A Sullivan

doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2025.09.035

TFOS DEWS III: Executive Summary

Am J Ophthalmol. 2026 Feb:282:135-145. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2025.09.035. Epub 2025 Sep 24.

Authors

Victor L Perez¹, Wei Chen², Jennifer P Craig³, Murat Dogru⁴, Lyndon Jones⁵, Fiona Stapleton⁶, James S Wolffsohn⁷, David A Sullivan⁸

Affiliations

¹ From the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (V.L.P.), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
² Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (W.C.), National Eye Clinic Research Center, China.
³ Department of Ophthalmology (J.P.C.), Aotearoa New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: jp.craig@auckland.ac.nz.
⁴ Ichikawa General Hospital (M.D.), Tokyo Dental College, Dept of Ophthalmology, Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan.
⁵ Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) (L.J.), School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ School of Optometry and Vision Science (F.S.), UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁷ School of Optometry (J.S.W.), College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.
⁸ Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (D.A.S.), Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

PMID: 41005521
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2025.09.035

Abstract

This article presents an executive summary of the conclusions and recommendations of the third Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Dry Eye Workshop (TFOS DEWS III) reports, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology (AJO) in the second quarter of 2025. These reports describe an updated, evidence-based consensus understanding of dry eye disease, together with scientifically-supported strategies for its clinical diagnosis and managagement. The three comprehensive TFOS DEWS III reports and accompanying editorial are freely available for download from the AJO website (www.ajo.com).

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Dry Eye Syndromes* / diagnosis
Dry Eye Syndromes* / metabolism
Dry Eye Syndromes* / therapy
Humans
Ophthalmology* / organization & administration
Societies, Medical*
Tears* / metabolism
Tears* / physiology
United States