Evaluation and correlation of corneal endothelium parameters with the severity of primary glaucoma.

PURPOSE

To evaluate and correlate corneal endothelium parameters with the severity of primary glaucoma.

METHODS

This prospective case-control study was conducted on 150 eyes of 80 newly diagnosed primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma (cPACG), and normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients in a tertiary care center. Endothelial parameters including endothelial cell count (ECC), percentage of hexagonal cells, and coefficient of variation of cell size were analyzed. Glaucoma cases were further sub-grouped into early, moderate, and severe glaucoma and compared for endothelial parameters. Chi-square, Fischer's exact test, independent sample t-test, and analysis of variance were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 28.

RESULTS

The ECC was markedly reduced in cases (2281 cells/mm) versus controls (2611 cells/mm) (P < 0.001). The POAG (2251 cells/mm) and cPACG (2287 cells/mm) eyes had significantly a lower ECC compared to healthy controls (P < 0.001), whereas NTG eyes had a lower mean ECC (2538 cells/mm), but it was not statistically significant (P > 0.05) when compared with controls. The ECC decreased with an increase in severity as patients with early glaucoma had an ECC of 2284 cells/mm, moderate 2261 cells/mm, and severe 2086 cells/mm, and the difference was statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

A significant decrease in corneal ECC was observed in POAG and cPACG patients when compared with healthy controls of the same age group. Mechanical damage following an elevated intra-ocular pressure for a longer duration may be attributed to morphological and consequent functional damage to endothelial cells.