Central corneal thickness and corneal curvature in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Abstract Purpose To determine the central corneal thickness (CCT) and corneal curvature (CC) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to evaluate the correlations between the CCT, CC and RA activity and duration. Methods Thirty‐three RA patients (64 eyes; 20 with dry eye, 44 without dry ye) and 21 age and gender matched control patients (42 eyes) were enrolled in the study. The CCT, and CC were measured by ultrasonic pachymeter (Sonomed Micropach Model 200P, Lake Success, NY, USA), and autorefractokeratometer (Topcon KR 8800, Tokyo, Japan), respectively. RA activity was assessed using the disease activity score (DAS) 28. The independent samples t test and Pearson correlation analysis was used in the statistical analysis. Results Mean CCT were found 541.73 ± 39.55 μm, 531.45 ± 38.34 μm, 546.41 ± 39.63 μm, and 543.40 ± 39.55 μm in all RA eyes, RA with dry eyes, RA without dry eyes, and control eyes, respectively. Mean keratometry (K) readings were found 43.87 ± 1.98 D, 43.84 ± 1.23 D, 43.88 ± 2.25 D, and 43.60 ± 1.48 D in all RA eyes, RA with dry eyes, RA without dry eyes, and control eyes, respectively. There were no significantly difference in CCT (p values, 0.834, 0.275, and 0.729 respectively) and K readings (p values, 0.448, 0.524, and 0.493 respectively) between the RA and control eyes. CCT and K readings were not significantly associated with DAS (p values, 0.791, and 0.861 respectively) and RA duration (p values, 0.238, and 0.155 respectively). Conclusion Our results show that CCT and CC were not significantly different between the RA and control eyes. CCT and CC were also not associated with RA activity and duration.