Abstract
Purpose::
to evaluate the central corneal thickness in stable and progressive glaucomas.Patients and
Methods::
842 patients of the Erlangen Glaucoma Registry with a follow-up of 14 years were included in this study: 193 normal controls (N, 50.3±9.4 years, 108 female, 85 male), 216 patients with ocular hypertension (OHT, 49.6±8.7 years, 107 female, 109 male), 197 patients with preperimetric open-angle glaucoma (preOAG, 49.0±11.6 years, 85 female, 112 male), and 236 patients with perimetric primary OAG (pOAG, 53.7±11.6 years, 131 female, 105 male). Morphological and/or perimetric progression was found in 12/216 OHT, 53/197 preOAG, and 75/236 pOAG. Central corneal thickness (CCT) was measured by ultrasound pachymetry (Tomey AL-1000). Non-parametric testing was performed.
Results::
Patients with OHT showed significant higher CCT (575.9±39µm, p=0.003), patients with pOAG significant lower CCT (547.4±38µm, p= 0.002) than normal controls (561.7±33µm). No significant difference in the CCT between preOAG (555.3±36µm, p> 0.05) and normals was found. In all patient groups, patients with progression revealed lower CCT (OHT:577.1 vs 563.0µm, p=0.22; preOAG: 559.5 vs 549.5µm p=0.06, pOAG 552.1 vs 540.3µm p=0.05). In stable patients, the CCT was significantly higher in OHT (577.1µm, p=0.01) than in normals. In patients with progression, the CCT was significantly lower in preOAG (549.5µm p=0.03) and pOAG (540.3µm p=0.001) than in normals.
Conclusions::
This study suggest that the risk for progression in patients with ocular hypertension, early (preperimetric) and perimetric glaucoma is associated with lower central corneal thickness. The association between CCT and progression might be different in ocular hypertension and open-angle glaucoma.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • intraocular pressure • cornea: clinical science