Purpose: To investigate the relationship between meibomian gland (MG) morphology and clinical dry eye tests in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: Total 538 MGD patients, and 21 healthy controls. Methods: MG loss on meibography images of upper (UL) and lower lids (LL) was graded on a scale of 0 (lowest degree of MG loss) to 3. MG length, thickness and inter-glandular space in the UL were measured. Clinical tests included meibum expression and quality, tear-film breakup time, ocular staining, osmolarity, Schirmer I, blink interval timing and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. Results: Mean UL and LL meibogrades were significantly higher in MGD patients compared to controls (P < 0.001 for UL and LL). The sensitivity and specificity of the meibograde as a diagnostic parameter for MGD was 96.7% and 85%, respectively. Schirmer I was significantly increased in MGD patients with meibograde 1 compared to patients with meibograde 0, 2 and 3 in the UL (P < 0.05). MG thickness increased with higher meibograde (P < 0.001). MG morphology correlated significantly but weakly with several clinical parameters (P < 0.05). OSDI did not correlate with any MG morphological parameter. Conclusions: Grading of MG loss using meibograde effectively diagnoses MGD. Compensatory mechanisms such as increased aqueous tear production and dilatation of MGs make early detection of MGD difficult by standard clinical measures of dry eye, whereas morphologic analysis of MGs reveals an early stage of MGD, and therefore represent a complementary clinical parameter with diagnostic potential.Values in bold are significant compared to Meibograde 0.
Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is the leading cause of dry eye and proposed treatments are based on disease severity. Our purpose was to establish reliable morphologic measurements of meibomian glands for evaluating MGD severity. This retrospective, cross-sectional study included 100 MGD patients and 20 controls. The patients were classified into dry eye severity level (DESL) 1–4 based on symptoms and clinical parameters including tear-film breakup time, ocular staining and Schirmer I. The gland loss, length, thickness, density and distortion were analyzed. We compared the morphology between patients and controls; examined their correlations to meibum expressibility, quality, and DESL. Relative to controls, the gland thickness, density and distortion were elevated in patients (p < 0.001 for all tests). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.96–1.0) for gland loss, and 0.96 (CI 0.91–1.0) for gland distortion, with a cutoff value of six distorted glands yielding a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 97% for MGD diagnosis. The gland distortion was negatively correlated to the meibum expressibility (r = −0.53; p < 0.001) and DESL (r = −0.22, p = 0.018). In conclusion, evaluation of meibomian gland loss and distortion are valuable complementary clinical parameters to assess MGD status.
Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is the most common cause of dry eye disease (DED). In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of eyelid warming treatment using either TheraPearl Eye Mask (Bausch & Lomb Inc., New York, USA) or Blephasteam (Spectrum Thea Pharmaceuticals LTD, Macclesfield, UK) in a Norwegian population with mild to moderate MGD-related DED. An open label, randomized comparative trial with seventy patients (49 females, 21 males; mean age 53.6 years). Patients were randomly assigned to treatment with Blephasteam (n = 37) or TheraPearl (n = 33). All received a hyaluronic acid based artificial tear substitute (Hylo-Comod, Ursapharm, Saarbrücken, Germany). Patients were examined at baseline, and at three and six months initiation of treatment. Treatment efficacy was primarily evaluated by fluorescein breakup time (FBUT) and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores. Other outcome measures included ocular surface staining (OSS), Schirmer’s test, and meibomian quality and expressibility. Baseline parameter values did not differ between the groups. After six months of treatment, Blephasteam improved FBUT by 3.9 s (p < 0.01) and OSDI by 13.7 (p < 0.01), TheraPearl improved FBUT by 2.6 s (p < 0.01) and OSDI by 12.6 (p < 0.01). No difference between treatments was detected at 6 months (p = 0.11 for FBUT and p = 0.71 for OSDI), nor were there differences in the other tested parameters between the treatment groups. Blephasteam and TheraPearl are equally effective in treating mild to moderate MGD in a Norwegian population after 6-months of treatment.Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT03318874; Protocol ID: 2014/1983; First registration: 24/10/2017.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.