Abstract
Purpose: :
To seek the association of corneal thickness and glaucoma, distributions of Goldmann applanation tension (GAT), central corneal thickness (CCT), and other ocular parameters and their correlations were studied among normal and glaucoma eyes
Methods: :
Consecutive charts of 3318 patients seen in a clinical office were reviewed, one eye of each patient was randomly selected for comparison. Correlation among parameters were compared. The data was further analyzed by gender, race, age and segregated by normal (N=3010) or glaucomatous (N=308) by absence or presence of Glaucomtous Optic Neuropathy by Heideberg Retinal Tomography.
Results: :
Among normal eyes while CCT distribute in Gaussean distribution, with the majority (N=2157) within 503 µm and 585 µm, thin cornea eyes and thick cornea eyes distributed evenly between both ends: 403 eyes had CCT thinner than 503 µm, and 450 eyes were thicker than 585 µm. While the majority (N= 207) of glaucoma eyes were found between 503 µm and 585 µm. higher than expected number of eyes with glaucoma (N=75) were found in eyes with CCT less than 503 µm, than in eyes with CCT thicker than 585 µm (N=26), Three times more than expected glaucoma eyes were observed in thinner cornea group than thicker cornea group by Chi-square test.
Conclusions: :
While the majority or corneal thickness were found in middle thickness range among normal and glaucoma eyes, more glaucoma eyes were found with thinner cornea than thicker cornea, among glaucoma eyes. This adds an observation to the previous reports of association between glaucoma and thin cornea. If this is due to abnormalities in lamina cribrosa in glaucoma needs to be further studied. Whether this is a causative relationship or merely under-discovery of glaucoma in thinner cornea eyes remain to be studied.
Keywords: cornea: clinical science