AUTHOR=Srivastav Saumya , Hasnat Ali Mohammed , Basu Sayan , Singh Swati 

TITLE=Morphologic variants of Meibomian glands: age-wise distribution and differences between upper and lower eyelids

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1195568

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2023.1195568

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Purpose: To evaluate the distribution of various Meibomian gland morphologies across different age groups in healthy individuals.Methods: Infrared Meibography was performed and morphologies of the Meibomian glands from upper and lower eyelids of 236 healthy individuals (mean age 38.4 ± 17.5 years; 80 females:156 males) were evaluated for their prevalence and differences across six decades of life, from 10-80 years. Linear mixed effects modelling test was used for statistical analysis.Results: Of 14,452 glands, 8830 (61%) glands were of the upper eyelid. No significant differences in frequency were noted between different age groups for distorted, tortuous, hooked, overlapping, abnormal gap, fluffy areas, dropout (except 51-60 vs. 10-20 years, P=0.023), and thick and thin morphologies. Short glands were significantly more in individuals aged more than 30 years (P=0.015), whereas moderately short and severely short glands were more common in upper eyelids of individuals older than 50 years of age compared to 10-20 years old (P=0.035). Compared with lower eyelids, the frequency of distorted, hooked, tortuous, overlapping, and tadpoling was significantly higher in the upper eyelids of all age groups. Dropout glands were more in the lower eyelids for individuals younger than 50 but no difference in upper and lower eyelids after 50 years of age. Dropout (P=0.006) and severely short glands ( 0.026) of the lower eyelid were associated with low NIBUT values.Various morphological characteristics of meibomian glands considered abnormal can be present in healthy individuals and only moderate to severely short gland display an increase with age.