J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2022 Jan;63(1):1-9. 10.3341/jkos.2022.63.1.1.

Comparison of Meibomian Gland Loss between Demodex-infested Group and Dry Eye Patients without Demodex Infestation

• Yoon YC
• Cho SY
• Park SK
• Yoo YS
• Whang WJ
• Na KS
• Kim EC
• Kim HS
• Hwang HS

• KMID: 2524932
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2022.63.1.1

Abstract

Purpose
To compare the degree of meibomian gland drop-out associated with Demodex infestation using non-contact meibography.
Methods
We performed noncontact meibography using an infrared digital camera on 24 adult subjects infested by Demodex and 40 without infestation. The right upper and lower lids were scored based on the loss of meibomian glands, and the scores of the upper and lower eyelids were summed to obtain the total meiboscore for each subject. Meiboscores were evaluated according to Demodex infestation and gender in each group.
Results
Sixty-four eyes of 64 people were enrolled in this study. The study subjects had an average age of 67.9 years (range, 40-79 years; men, 65.2 years; women, 69.1 years). There was a significant association between Demodex infestation and total meiboscore and upper and lower eyelid meiboscores (p = 0.000, p = 0.002, p = 0.004, respectively). There was no significant difference in the meiboscores between men and women. Age and meiboscore suggested a weak positive correlation; however, the R² value was low, due to the concentrated age distribution of the study population.
Conclusions
Based on noncontact meibography, the authors concluded that the prevalence of changes in the meibomian glands was significantly related to Demodex infestation; however, there was no significant difference between men and women.

Keyword

Demodex blepharitis; Meibomian gland dysfunction; Noncontact meibography; Meiboscore