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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 and BMI category showed significant difference with the increase of weight, BMI, OSDI and BUT. The gland tortuosity showed significant difference with the increase of age and BMI. Gender had no significant effect on gland meiboscore, tortuosity and BMI category. Besides, BUT was affected by weight, BMI and OSDI. The gland meiboscore was significantly correlated with weight, BMI, OSDI score and BMI percentile. The gland tortuosity was significantly correlated with weight, BMI and BMI percentile. CONCLUSION In this pediatric population, the meiboscore become higher with the increase of weight, BMI, OSDI and the decrease of BUT, and gland tortuosity became more serious with the increase of age and BMI. Therefore, we should pay more attention to the effect of overweight on the meibomian gland tructure to reduce the risk of meibomain gland dysfunction (MGD).
Xu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.