Quantitative evaluation of morphological and functional changes in meibomian glands and lipid layer thickness in patients with and without keratoconus

• Published in: Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology 2024-08, Vol.262 (8), p.2551-2560
• Main Authors: Hou, Xiangtao, Liu, Chang, Luo, Yiqi, Yu, Na, Chen, Pei, Zhuang, Jing, Yu, Keming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cornea; Functional morphology; Glands; Keratoconus; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Morphology; Ophthalmology
• ISSN: 0721-832X; 1435-702X; 1435-702X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00417-024-06443-8

Purpose To quantitatively evaluate the morphological parameters of meibomian glands (MGs) and lipid layer thickness (LLT) in patients with keratoconus (KC). Methods In this prospective, cross-sectional study, 164 eyes of 164 keratoconus patients and 64 eyes of 64 age-matched control subjects were included. An advanced automatic MG analyzer was used to quantitatively measure the morphological and functional parameters of MGs. Morphological and functional parameters of MGs, LLT, and other ocular surface parameters were compared between the control and KC groups. Results The mean meibomian gland diameter, length, square, and gland area ratio (GA) were all significantly decreased in the KC group (all P   0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of total and incomplete blinking among patients with different stages of keratoconus (all P  > 0.05). The gland diameter, square, and TI were all negatively associated with KC severity (all P   0.05). Moreover, the LLTs were positively correlated with the gland diameter, square, GA, and TI and negatively correlated with anterior corneal curvature or KC severity (all P