Purpose: To evaluate meibomian gland (MG) changes in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) by infrared meibography and to further investigate possible correlations with hematological characteristics.
Methods: Thirty-three patients were included: infrared meibography of the lower eyelid, Schirmer test, tear break-up time, ocular surface staining, and Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire were conducted before (V0) and 4 months after HSCT (V1). A paired samples t test was used to compare parameters before and after HSCT. A mixed analysis of variance was used to assess the effect of hematological characteristics on changes of MG loss (MGL) after HSCT.
Results: MGL and corneal staining significantly increased after HSCT (respectively, from 24.3% ± 10.1% to 32.2 ± 15.0 and from 1.2 ± 1.5 to 2.0 ± 1.7; always P < 0.011), whereas tear break-up time significantly decreased (from 6.6 ± 4.2 seconds to 3.2 ± 2.2; P < 0.001). At V1, 19 patients (57.6%) belonged to ocular graft-versus-host disease severity grade 0, 8 (24.2%) to grade I, and 6 (18.2%) to grade II. The percentage of MGL at V0 and the increase of MGL from V0 to V1 did not differ between patients who developed ocular graft-versus-host disease and those who did not (always P > 0.05). At V1, MGs' quality reduced in 16 patients (48.5%), remained unchanged in 14 (42.4%), and improved in 3 (9.1%). The increase of MGL after HSCT was higher in patients receiving myeloablative conditioning regimen (P = 0.005).
Conclusions: MG function, loss, and quality significantly worsened after HSCT. Myeloablative conditioning regimen was associated with higher MGL.