Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the anterior scleral shape regional differences between Asian and Caucasian populations. Methods: The study included 250 Asian eyes and 235 Caucasian eyes from participants aged 22 to 67 years (38.5 ± 7.6). Three-dimensional (3D) corneo-scleral maps were acquired using a corneo-scleral topographer (Eye Surface Profiler, Eaglet Eye BV) and used to calculate sagittal height. For each 3D map, the sclera (maximum diameter of 18 mm) and cornea were separated at the limbus using an automated technique. Advanced data processing steps were applied to ensure levelled artefact-free datasets to build an average scleral shape map for each population. Results: Statistically, Asian and Caucasian sclerae are significantly different from each other in sagittal height (overall sclera, p = 0.001). The largest difference in sagittal height between groups was found in the inferior-temporal region (271 ± 203 µm, p = 0.03), whereas the smallest difference was found in the superior-temporal region (84 ± 105 µm, p = 0.17). The difference in sagittal height between Caucasian and Asian sclera increases with the distance from the limbus. Conclusions: Asian anterior sclera was found to be less elevated than Caucasian anterior sclera. However, the nasal area of the sclera is less elevated than the temporal area, independently of race. Gaining knowledge in race-related scleral topography differences could assist contact lens manufacturers in the process of lens design and practitioners during the process of contact lens fitting.
Highlights
Contact lenses are a popular form of vision correction as prescriptions of contact lenses increase worldwide on a yearly basis [1,2,3]
The current study presents a comprehensive comparison between the anterior scleral shape of Asian and Caucasian populations
Asian sclera was found to be flatter than Caucasian sclera
Summary
Contact lenses are a popular form of vision correction as prescriptions of contact lenses increase worldwide on a yearly basis [1,2,3]. Even though some contact lens manufacturers have specific lens designs for Asian eyes [15], designers of contact lenses are often discouraged to know why some of their lenses are successfully working with a particular set of fitting rules with a specific population, but they have to change their fitting rules or even their design when they try to fit their lenses to customers in a new market dominated by a different ethnic group [16,17] In this context, in a previous work by Vincent and colleagues, differences in the ocular response to scleral lens wear were observed between Asian and Caucasian eyes [18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
