Effect observation of comprehensive therapy in the treatment of MGD by infrared meibography

Objective To observe the changes of meibomian morphology after treatment using non-contact infrared meibography. Methods Prospective case control study. Fifty-four MGD patients (62 eyes) from Shanxi Eye Hospital outpatient department were enrolled in this study according to the PPP. All patients were subjected to the slip-lamp, Schirmer’s Test I, corneal fluorescein staining, the no-invasive tear film break-up time (NIBUT), DR-I Tearscope Plus and infrared meibography before and after treatment respectively. The various parameters of dry eye and the changes of meibomian glands were compared. Results After treatment, the NTBUT and tear interferometry exhibited significantly improved, as compared to these before treatment (P =0.01; P =0.032). Meibomian gland morphology, corneal fluorescein staining and Schirmer' s Test I were improved after treatment but the differences were not statistically significant (t =0.068, P =0.716; t =0.15 P =0.19; t =0.06, P = 0.08). Slip-lamp revealed the significant progressive changes of glandular secretion and characters (t = 2.02, P =0.04; t =2.56, P =0.01). Conclusions MGD should be treated timely and comprehensively in order to decrease the symbols of dry eyes. The non-contact infrared meibography system is useful for obtaining information on the meibomian gland structure, not only effective, real-time but objective. Key words: MGD; Non-contact infrared meibography; Meibomian gland; Dry eye