Background: Corneal endothelial cell is important for corneal function and viability. The advent of specular microscopy has greatly improved the study of human corneal endothelial morphology and allowed quantification of endothelial changes.
Objective: To compare the corneal endothelial cell parameters in four groups (i.e., young subjects, elderly persons, cataract patients, and primary open-angle glaucoma patients) measured by specular microscopy.
Materials and Methods: This prospective, randomized, single-site clinical study included a total of 120 patients who were selected and divided into 4 groups of 30 patients each. Endothelial cell density (ECD), average cell size, and percentage of hexagonality (6A%) were measured by noncontact specular microscope.
Result: In our study, of 120 patients, 74 (61.66%) were male while 46 (38.33%) female subjects. In group A, ECD, average cell size, and percentage of hexagonality were 2,797.43 ± 171.96 cells/mm2, 324.63 ± 40.61 µm2, and 66.43 ± 2.56%, respectively. The values in group B were 2,364.10 ± 81.56 cells/mm2, 362.27 ± 22.30 µm2, and 59.40 ± 3.54%, respectively. In group C, these values were 2,534.37 ± 125.34 cells/mm2, 414.93 ± 37.45 µm2, and 60.13 ± 2.52%, respectively. While in group D, these values were 2,311.30 ± 100.87 cells/mm2, 436.13 ± 41.47 µm2, and 59.93 ± 2.55%, respectively.
Conclusion: From this study, it can be concluded that ECD is at its peak value in young age and significantly reduces with age and not influenced by cataract and glaucoma. Hexagonality of corneal endothelium is significantly high in young males when compared with young female subjects. Young subjects showed small average size of endothelial cell.
Key words: ECD, hexagonality, average cell size, specular microscope
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