Association of meibomian gland dysfunction with phlyctenular keratoconjunctivitis

AIM: To observe the meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) in patients of phlyctenularkeratoconjunctivitis (PKC).
Method: In cross sectional study, 50 patients with PKC who visited the ophthalmic OPD in the duration of January 2019 to December 2019 were taken into consideration . All patients underwent general, systemic and ocular examination including visual acuity, fluorescence staining, schirmer's test, tear film breakup time (TBUT) and meibomian gland assessement. Meibomian glands of both the lids which coincides with the location of phlycten were assessed on the basis of meibum quality and expressibility of glands and then patients were categorized into four stages according to above mentioned criteria.
Result: Total 52 eyes of 50 patients were studied with 56% females. TBUT and Schirmer’s test were normal in most of the patients. Meibomian gland assessment suggested 44% eyes with stage 2 MGD followed by 24% eyes with stage 3 that coincide with location of phlycten.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that MGD can be one of the cause of PKC as MGD was found in meibomian glands which was coinciding with location of phlycten with higher prevalence in females.