Abstract
Purpose :
The choice of the best Corneal Specular Microscope (CSMe) type is a difficult task and it is decisive to the objectivity of the examination. Non-Contact (NC) CSMe acquire endothelial mosaic (EM) images when the patient sets the target light, each model of this type has different fixed positions. Contact (C) CSM can acquire EM images of any area of the endothelial surface by sliding the objective lens on the cornea. The correct choice, NC or C CSMe, is decisive to the objectivity of the Specular Microscopy (SM). The purpose is to describe the profile of the patients, the used CSMe to perform the SM, the SM results considering an age mach control, and the reliability indexes of the performed SM.
Methods :
Cross-sectional study with database of patients submitted to SM at the Cornea Service of the Clinica de Olhos Prof. Dr. Fernando Abib, Curitiba, Brazil from 12/17/2007 to 11/22/2016. The choice of the used CSMe was as recommended according the autor, ARVO 2015 (Figure 1A). The used microscopes: 1.Non-Contact CSMe CSO, Italy; 2. Contact CSMe BioOptics Bambi 2500, USA. The Cells AnalyzerUSA Patent- Corneal Statistical Endothelial Lab software was used to guide the SM utilizing the Reliability Indexes described by the author in the Cornea Journal 2013, perform the analysis of the results through age control (Figure 1B). The results of SM (Endothelial cell density - ECD, average cellular area - Area, Ceficient of variation - CV and hexagonal percentage - Hex) are classified considering the normal values to the age: IN if inside of the normal range, and OUT if outside of the normal range. The results are presented by descriptive statistics.
Results :
The total examined patients was 4,899. Male 2803 (57%) and female 2096 (43%). The range of the age was 7 to 98, the average 49±19 years old. The used CSMe: Non-Contact in 2,985 (61%) patients and Contact in 1,914 (39%) patients. The SM was performed in both eyes in 4,498 (98%) patients and in one eye only in 106 (2%). The total number of the performed SM 9,102, distribution per decade of life, the reliability indexes (sample error) and the analysis of the SM results considering the age match control is shown in the table.
Conclusions :
The patients age were from 2nd to 9th decades of life, the most used was the NC CSM but the C CSM was frequently used. A large number of SM was considered not normal relatively to the age that demonstrate how important is this endothelial examination.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.