A study of meibomian gland and tear film changes in patients with pterygium in a tertiary care centre

Objective: To find out the correlation of Meibomian gland and Tear film dysfunction with pterygium. Design: Institution based prospective cross sectional study. Materials and Methods: 70 (seventy) patients with unilateral primary progressive nasal Pterygium and 70 healthy adults without any ocular pathology were selected as comparison group from the Ophthalmology outpatient department of Calcutta National Medical College and hospital, Kolkata for a duration of 6 months from January 2020 to June 2020. Meibomian gland dysfunction was measured by meibomian gland expression score and lid margin abnormality score. Tear film changes were measured by Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Score , Tear break up time (TBUT), Tear meniscus height(TMH), Schirmer’s test 1 (ST1) and Corneal flourescein staining in both pterygium and control group and comparisons were done to find out the significance in differences. Statistical Analysis: The Categorical variables were analyzed with the help of Pearson Chi square test, Spearman rho Correlation, Man Whitney U Test and the continuous variables were analyzed with the help of Independent T test and Pearson Correlation coefficient. The level of significance was considered as 95% of confidence interval i.e. P value Results: OSDI score, TBUT, meibomian gland expression score, lid margin abnormality score and corneal fluoresce in staining were significantly higher in pterygium group than others (p Conclusion: Meibomian gland function was altered in patient with Pterygium which is also associated with uncomfortable ocular symptoms due to tear film abnormalities.   Keywords: Pterygium, Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, Tear Film