Purpose:

To characterize meibomian glands (MGs) features in patients with Graves ophthalmopathy (GO) by in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) and to further investigate possible correlations with ocular surface characteristics.

Methods:

Consecutive patients with GO and controls were enrolled. The following ocular surface parameters were measured: tear break-up time, Schirmer test, and corneal fluorescein staining (Oxford score) were performed on each subject. IVCM of MGs was performed, and the scans were analyzed with ImageJ software for the calculation of the following: acinar unit density, total gland area, total lumen area (TLA), acinar longest diameter, and acinar shortest diameter. A nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare variables between patients with GO and controls. The Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlations between ocular surface and IVCM parameters.

Results:

Twenty-one patients with GO and 24 sex-and age-matched healthy controls were included. Acinar unit density was significantly lower in patients with GO compared with controls (24.5±8.1 vs. 34.2±7.5 U/mm 2; P< 0.001). In addition, patients with GO showed significantly higher values of TLA, acinar longest diameter, and acinar shortest diameter compared with controls (respectively, 3104.7±1713.3 vs. 1393.8±448.0 μm 2, 94.4±21.2 vs. 64.3±10.1 µm and 56.6±15.3 vs. 42.2±12.3 μm; always P< 0.05). In patients with GO, TLA showed a significant inverse correlation with Schirmer test (Rs=− 0.467; P= 0.038).

Conclusions:

IVCM allowed to detect distinctive features of MGs in patients with GO and could represent a surrogate tool for the assessment of MG status in these patients.