Expressible Meibomian Glands Have Occult Fixed Obstructions: Findings From Meibomian Gland Probing to Restore Intraductal Integrity

Purpose:
To describe and quantify findings of intraductal obstruction during probing expressible and nonexpressible meibomian glands (MGs) in patients with obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction using a 1-mm intraductal MG probe.
Methods:
A retrospective study of probe findings from 108 consecutive patients. Nonparametric tests using SPSS software 25.0 to explore relationships between expressibility and probe findings.
Results:
Of 11,776 probed glands of 404 lids, 84% showed mechanical resistance (MR) and 16% showed no resistance (NR). Fixed, firm, focal unyielding resistance (FFFUR) occurred in 79.5% of obstructed glands, and nonfixed, nonfocal easily yielding soft resistance (SFT) in 20.4%. FFFUR was characterized by an audible and tactile “firm pop” (FP) or “firm gritty” (FG) sensation. No significant difference in MR and FFFUR for lids between 0% and>90% gland expressibility was observed. FP correlated with increased expressibility (P = 0.011), lid tenderness (P = 0.045), and complete proximal obstruction (P = 0.037), whereas SFT correlated with reduced expressibility (P = 0.016). Upper lids showed greater incidence of MR (P

Source: Cornea - June 7, 2019 Category: Opthalmology Tags: Clinical Science Source Type: research