Abstract
AIM: To explore the factors causing structural abnormalities of meibomian gland in the pediatric population. METHODS: Two-hundred children were enrolled to evaluate the morphology of meibomian gland. Demographic and clinical information were collected. Symptoms of dry eye disease (DED) were assessed with the ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire. Meibography was performed and grading of images was performed by a 5-point meiboscale (0-4) for gland atrophy and a 3-point score (0-2) for gland tortuosity. RESULTS: 200 eyes of 200 participants aged 10-18 years (13.10 ± 2.39 years) were imaged. Most patients had a score of 1, 130 (65%) in meiboscore and 138 (69%) in gland tortuosity. The meiboscore showed significant difference with the increase of weight, BUT and BMI percentile ranking. The gland tortuosity showed significant difference with the increase of age, and BMI percentile ranking. Besides, shorter BUT corresponds to larger percentage of meibomian gland atrophy and higher OSDI score. Gender had no significant effect on gland dysfunction. The gland meiboscore was significantly correlated with weight, OSDI score, BUT, BMI percentile and BMI percentile ranking. And the gland tortuosity was significantly correlated with weight, BMI percentile and OSDI score. CONCLUSION: In this pediatric population, the meiboscore become higher with the increase of weight, BMI percentile, OSDI and the decrease of BUT, and gland tortuosity became more serious with the increase of age and BMI percentile. Therefore, clinicians should be aware that being overweight is a risk factor for changes in meibomian gland structure.