Abstract
Purpose. To describe the normative values of corneal endothelial cell density, morphology, and central corneal thickness in healthy Turkish eyes. Methods. Specular microscopy was performed in 252 eyes of 126 healthy volunteers (M : F, 42 : 84). Parameters studied included mean endothelial cell density (MCD), mean cell area (MCA), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell size, percentage of hexagonal cells, and central corneal thickness (CCT). Results. The mean age of volunteers was 44.3 ± 13.5 (range, 20 to 70) years. There was a statistically significant decrease in MCD (P < 0.001; correlation, −0.388) and percentage of hexagonal cells, (P < 0.001; correlation, −0.199) with age. There was also a statistically significant increase in MCA (P < 0.001; correlation, 0.363) with increasing age. There was no statistically significant difference in MCD, MCA, CV in cell size, percentage of hexagonal cells, and CCT between genders and there was also no significant difference in these parameters between fellow eyes of subjects. Conclusions. Normotive data for the endothelium in the Turkish population are reported. Endothelial cell density in the Turkish eyes is less than that described in the Japanese, American, Chinese, and Filipino eyes and higher than that described in Indian, Thai, and Iranian eyes.
Highlights
Corneal endothelium is essential for the maintenance of the optical transparency of the cornea
Routine ocular examination was performed, and if the participant was found to be suitable for the study, corneal endothelial cell density, morphology and central corneal thickness were examined with noncontact specular microscopy (SP-3000P: Topcon corporation, Tokyo, Japan)
Several studies have reported the relationship of endothelial cell density and morphology with age, gender, and ethnicity
Summary
Corneal endothelium is essential for the maintenance of the optical transparency of the cornea. Extrinsic factors, such as genetics, race, and age, [1,2,3] or intrinsic factors, such as trauma, intraocular surgery, ultraviolet radiation, and infection [4,5,6] are responsible for maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the corneal endothelium. The metabolic function of these cells is important because a reduced number of healthy endothelial cells may maintain corneal deturgescence better than a similar number of poorly functioning cells. Because proliferation of human corneal endothelial cells does not continue throughout a person’s lifetime, wound healing in human corneal endothelium is mainly accomplished by cell spreading, resulting in increased cellular pleomorphism, and a decrease in the percentage of hexagonal cells with age [3, 7]
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