Abstract
Purpose :
Measuring corneal clarity in healthy eyes is important because it could help when planning treatments. This study aims to standardize and investigate the changes in corneal clarity with age. Densitometry software for the Oculus Pentacam was used to examine corneal clarity at different age groups.
Methods :
A total of 192 eyes of 97 healthy participants were included in this cohort comparative non-randomized cross-sectional study. Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK and NREC local ethics committee approved this Study. An Oculus Pentcam was used to image cornea for healthy participants grouped by sex and age (between 10 and 70 years old). Data from the densitometry output has been used to determine the clarity in concentric zones and different depths of the cornea.
Results :
Corneal densitometry across all age groups showed significant differences between groups when we divided the corneal into layers: anterior, central and posterior (p<0.05). We also showed significant differences when the cornea was divided in to 0-2 mm, 2-6 mm, and 6-10 mm concentric zones (p<0.05). The most striking increase in densitometry values occurred with age in all 3 layers was in the periphery (6-10 mm) (p<0.05). Additionally, we showed that the 10-20 yr age group had lower clarity than the 20-30-age group (p<0.05) and after 30 years the cornea shows a steady progression of increased densitometry values. Densitometry of the anterior and posterior layer was shown to be the least stable with aging.
Conclusions :
This study is the first study to our knowledge that has standardized corneal densitometry value in healthy control eyes, which include teenage densitometry values. These values for corneal densitometry, as well as subdivisions based on layer and surface area, might provide a standardized stage for use in further studies and clinical practice. This study established that relation between corneal densitometry and age is differed when cornea divided by layers and zone. This study suggested that there are other factors play an essential role in corneal densitometry level as well as age.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.