Study of the relationship between the tattooing ciliary line and meibomian gland dysfunction

Objective To investigate the relationship between the tattooing ciliary line and meibomian gland dysfunction. Methods A retrospective study. There were 160 eyes of 80 cases with tattooing ciliary line during physical examination from Jan. 2015 to Dec. 2017 as the observation group. In addition, there were 160 eyes of 80 cases without untattooed ciliary line as the control group. The questionnaire survey were assessed in all cases. The scores were compared between the two groups. Results The palpebral edge morphology scores of the observation group was 2.03±1.36 and 0.50±0.50 of the control group respectively. The difference was statistically significant (t=9.460, P=0.015). The excretion capacity of meibomian gland in the observation group was 2.18±0.87 and 0.23 ± 0.53 of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (t=17.040, P=0.000). The meibomian gland secretion score of the observation group was 1.96±0.85 and 0.95±0.85 of the control group respectively. The difference was statistically significant (t=6.880, P=0.027). The score of tarsal gland loss in the case group and the control group was 1.70±1.40 and 0.42±0.65, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (t=7.340, P=0.023). Conclusion The tattooing ciliary line may lead to different degrees of meibomian gland dysfunction, increase lacrimal fluid secretion and the instability of lacrimal film. Key words: Tattooing ciliary line; Meibomian gland dysfunction; Ocular surface