Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare the anterior segment morphometry among two different age groups.
Methods: :
Ultrasound biomicroscopy was used to prospectively study the anterior segment morphometry of one randomly chosen eye of 89 normal volunteers. The patients were divided into two groups according with their age: G1, patients ≤ 40 years of age and G2, patients >40 years of age. The temporal meridian was scanned in each eye. The following anterior segment morphometric variables were determined for each meridian and compared between the two groups: anterior chamber depth (ACD), angle–opening distance at 250 (AOD250) and 500 (AOD500) micra from the scleral spur, iris–lens contact distance (ILCD), trabecular–ciliary process distance (TCPD), iris–zonular distance (IZD), iris–distance 1 (ID1), scleral thickness and ciliary body thickness at 1–, 2– and 3–mm from the scleral spur.
Results: :
Compared with younger patients, older patients presented a shallower anterior chamber (ACD; G1: 2.942 ± 0.239 mm, G2:2.740 ± 0.255 mm; P <0.001), a narrower angle [(AOD250; G1: 0.297 ± 0.109 mm, G2: 0.245 ± 0.124 mm; P= 0.004);(AOD500; G1: 0.461 ± 0.145 mm, G2: 0.398 ± 0.197 mm)] and a decrease in TCPD (G1: 0.943 ± 0.136 mm, G2:0.839 ± 0.183 mm; P=0.001). All the other morphometric parameters did not presented significant changes with age.
Conclusions: :
Iris, ciliary body and scleral thickness do not change with age while anterior chamber depth and angle opening decrease with age.
Keywords: imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • anterior segment • anatomy