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【Title】Qualitative analysis and clinical implications of lipid layer thickness variability: A retrospective, cross-sectional study

【Journal】PLoS One

【Authors】Jiyoung Emily Lee; Dong-Kyu Kim; Hye Yeon Yoon; et al.

【Summary】This retrospective cross-sectional study investigated whether qualitative variability in 20-second LipiView® II lipid layer thickness (LLT) patterns is associated with meibomian gland (MG) morphology and ocular surface findings in eyes with device-reported mean LLT ≥100 nm. Among 85 eyes, 58 (68.2%) showed high LLT variability and 27 (31.8%) low variability. The high-variability group had significantly higher meiboscores, indicating greater MG dropout, along with more severe dry eye symptoms and increased blinking frequency; corneal and conjunctival staining also tended to be higher. These findings suggest that qualitative LLT pattern analysis may provide additional information beyond mean LLT for identifying MG dysfunction and evaporative dry eye.