Corneal Biometry and Endothelial Morphology of a Young Adult Population: The Raine Eye Health Study

Abstract

Purpose: : To define the distribution and determinants of corneal biometry and endothelial morphology in a healthy young adult population.

Methods: : A cross-sectional study was performed on individuals aged 20-22 years previously enrolled in the Western Australian Pregnancy (Raine) Cohort. Corneal biometric parameters including corneal curvature, central corneal thickness and corneal diameter were measured in addition to axial length, anterior chamber depth and lens thickness. Cycloplegic refraction was performed with an autorefractor. Specular microscopy was used to determine endothelial cell density, cell area and cell size variation.

Results: : Complete biometric, refractive and morphological data were available on 1001 participants (52.4% males). Mean corneal curvature was 43.63 D (95% CI: 43.54 to 43.71D) and mean central corneal thickness was 538.58 μm (95% CI: 536.57 to 540.59 μm). Males had flatter (p<0.001), thicker (p=0.010) and larger (p<0.001) corneas compared to females. Females had a greater number of endothelial cells (p=0.028), however these were smaller (p=0.027) and varied more in size (p<0.001). The corneas were larger, flatter and thicker in eyes with longer axial length (r=0.301,-0.537 and 0.102 respectively, all p<0.001). Eyes with deeper anterior chambers had larger (r=0.410, p<0.001) and steeper (r=0.144, p<0.001) corneas.

Conclusions: : We report normative data on corneal biometry and endothelial morphology and their correlations with other ocular biometric measurements in a healthy young adult population. These findings will provide an understanding of the changes that occur in the cornea with aging, and with diseases such as refractive error, keratoconus and Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy.

Keywords: cornea: clinical science • cornea: endothelium • keratoconus