Abstract
Purpose :
Hyperglycaemia in diabetes mellitus might influence corneal biomechanics. We performed an observational, cross-sectional study to investigate corneal biomechanical properties in diabetic patients using the Ocular Response Analyzer® (ORA) and the Oculus Corvis® ST (CST).
Methods :
In this study, 20 eyes of 20 diabetic patients without corneal diseases, contact lens wear, glaucoma, previous ocular surgeries and systemic collagen disorders were included. After an ophthalmological examination, measurements by ORA and CST were performed. Furthermore, HbA1C values were collected. Results were compared to an age- and intraocular pressure-matched group of 20 healthy subjects using the paired t-test. The influence of HbA1C was analyzed by Pearson`s correlation coefficient.
Results :
Mean age of diabetic and healthy subjects was not statistically significantly different (65.1 vs. 64.3 years). Mean HbA1c of patients was 7.4 mmol/mol. In diabetes corneal hysteresis and corneal resistance factor (ORA) were significantly higher than in healthy controls (11.1 vs. 9.1, p = 0.003 and 10.7 vs. 9.3, p = 0.04). Also, the following CST parameters were significantly increased in diabetes: A1 Deflection (Defl.) Amplitude (Amp.) (p = 0.034), A2 Defl. Amp. (p = 0.018), A2 Time (p < 0.001), Peak Distance (p = 0.016), bIOP (p = 0.014), HC Defl. Amp. (p = 0.019), HC Time (p < 0.001) and Defl. Amp. Max (in mm: p = 0.033/in ms: p = 0.004). A2 Velocity (p = 0.001) was reduced in diabetes mellitus. None of the parameters was correlated to current HbA1c.
Conclusions :
In this study, an increased corneal stiffness in diabetic patients was shown. Reasons might be an accumulation of advanced glycosylation end products and a higher collagen cross-linking effect in the corneal stroma in diabetes mellitus.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.