June 2020
Volume 61, Issue 7
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2020
Corneal endothelial cell density in a group of 124 identical twins
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Ravand Samaeekia
    Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
    Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • Allen O Eghrari
    Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Ravand Samaeekia, None; Allen Eghrari, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2020, Vol.61, 3611. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Ravand Samaeekia, Allen O Eghrari; Corneal endothelial cell density in a group of 124 identical twins. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2020;61(7):3611.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose :

The study of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, and differences in the correlation of corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) between these groups allows for determination of the extent to which ECD is genetically determined. However, monozygotic twins occur less frequently than dizygotic twins. Here we report the corneal endothelial characteristics from the largest cohort of monozygotic twins to date.

Methods : Specular microscopy images (Konan Noncon Robo NSP-9900) were captured from 62 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins, 96 females and 28 males (mean age 37.2±17.6) (Table 1). We used the flex center method for image analysis, with at least 100 contiguous cells counted per image. Parameters recorded from the system included the central corneal thickness (CCT), mean CD (MCD), mean cell area (MCA), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell area, and percentage of hexagonal cells (Hex (%)).

Results : Co-twins showed high degree of correlation (r) when compared for mean values of CD, CCT, CV, and cell area in right versus right, left versus left and the average of R and L eyes with mean ECD and mean cell area showing the highest r values of 0.916 and 0.922, respectively (Table 1). There was no significant difference in any of the compared variables between the co-twins using two-sample t-test (p>0.05). Repeating the t-test after stratification of the co-twins based on age groups showed a declining trend in CCT, MCD and Hex and an increasing trend in CV and MCA with increasing age, however it did not generate any significant difference in the same variables between the co-twins (Table 2).

Conclusions : We present the the largest monozygotic twin study of corneal endothelium to date, demonstrating a higher correlation in cell density than previously reported between such pairs. These findings are consistent with a strong genetic basis to corneal endothelial density. Determination of such genetic factors may strengthen a precision medicine approach to corneal endothelial therapies.

This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.

 

Table 1: Baseline characteristics and comparison of mean values of variables between Twin A and Twin B in our monozygotic cohort.

Table 1: Baseline characteristics and comparison of mean values of variables between Twin A and Twin B in our monozygotic cohort.

 

Table 2: Comparison of variables in the same cohort after age stratification.

Table 2: Comparison of variables in the same cohort after age stratification.

×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×