Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To examine the relationship between central corneal thickness (CCT), refractive error, and race in a population of patients receiving medical care for glaucoma. Methods: A retrospective review of information on 226 patients from a glaucoma and general ophthalmology practive (EF) was performed. Data including age, race, sex, visual acuity, spherical equivalent refractive error, glaucoma diagnosis, and pachymetry were collected. Central corneal thickness was measured using a DGH ultrasound pachymeter. Each patient was diagnosed as either ocular hypertension, OAG, CACG, or glaucoma suspect. Patients with more than –1.00 diopter of spherical equivalent refractive error were classified as myopes and those with more than +1.00 diopter of error were classified as hyperopes. Emmetropes were defined as those between +1.00 diopter and –1.00 diopter. Results: There was no difference between the CCT of myopes and those with other refractive errors (p = 0.26). Caucasian patients had significantly greater CCT when compared to African Americans (559 vs. 541, p < 0.05). In Caucasians, myopia was associated with greater CCT compared to emmetropia and hyperopia combined (568 vs. 556, p < 0.05). In African Americans, however, myopia was associated with lower CCT compared to emmetropia and hyperopia combined (518 vs. 551, p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between CCT values in hyperopes compared to myopes or emmetropes. African American myopes had thinner corneas than African American emmetropes (p < 0.05) and Caucasian myopes had thicker corneas than Caucasian emmetropes (p < 0.05). Conclusions: While it has been previously reported that refractive error is not related to CCT, we found that African American myopes have thinner corneas while Caucasian myopes have thicker corneas in a population of patients receiving medical care for glaucoma. Further research is required to understand how these relationships impact patient care and risk of disease progression.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • refraction • cornea: clinical science