Abstract
Purpose:
To quantitatively analyze the morphology of normal human ciliary body using ultrasound biomicroscopy.<br />
Methods:
With ultrasound biomicroscopy, we evaluated 85 eyes of 85 normal subjects (35 males and 50 females) aged 11-86 years (mean ± SD, 56.8 ± 20.4 years). The eyes were assessed in the 3-, 6-, 9-, 12 -o’clock quadrants relative to the center of the cornea. We collected clinical data, including age, axial length, ciliary body length (CBL), ciliary body thickness (CBT), anterior-chamber depth, iris root thickness, trabecular-iris angle, and scleral-ciliary process angle. Axial length was measured using A-scan ultrasonography.
Results:
CBL and CBT tended to be greater in the superior quadrant and decreased in the inferior quadrant, though the differences between the four quadrants were not significant. The average CBL and CBT showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). Both the average CBL and CBT were significantly correlated with the axial length (r = 0.33, p = 0.031; r = 0.46, p < 0.01, respectively). In addition, average CBL was significantly correlated with anterior-chamber depth (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), trabecular-iris angle (r = 0.29, p = 0.01), and scleral-ciliary process angle (r = 0.40, p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Ultrasound biomicroscopic imaging demonstrated that the configuration of ciliary body is similar in all circumferences, and highly myopic eyes have an elongated and thickened ciliary body. The values obtained in the present study should be useful as standard clinical references.