Department of Ophthalmology, 251 Hellenic Airforce General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Department of Ophthalmology, 401 General Military Hospital of Athens, Greece; and.
Cornea. 2024 Jun 1;43(6):764-770. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000003515. Epub 2024 Mar 13.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between central corneal endothelial cell density (ECD), endothelial morphology, and corneal thickness (central corneal thickness) with the anterior chamber depth, corneal volume (CV), white-to-white (WTW) distance, mean anterior chamber angle (CAmean), and gender in healthy individuals.
This observational study included 136 healthy volunteers. The ECD, coefficient of variation of cell area, and hexagonal cell appearance ratio (%Hex) were measured by means of specular microscopy. The central corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth, CV, WTW distance, and the angle width of 12 points were taken by the Pentacam HR Scheimpflug anterior segment imaging. The arithmetical mean of the 12 points was considered as the CAmean. We used mixed effect linear regression model for the statistical analysis of the data.
ECD was positively correlated with CV ( P = 0.028), while after adjusting for age, it was negatively correlated with age ( P < 0.001). Coefficient of variation of cell area was positively correlated with CAmean ( P = 0.036), while after adjusting for age, it was positively correlated with age ( P < 0.001) and CAmean ( P = 0.005). Hex was negatively correlated with WTW ( P = 0.023) and CAmean ( P = 0.025), and after adjusting for age, this correlation remained the same ( P = 0.029 when correlated with WTW and P = 0.035 with CAmean).
There were significant changes in the morphology of the corneal endothelial cells in eyes with wider anterior chamber angle. Greater pleomorphism and polymegethism of the corneal endothelium was observed in healthy patients with wider CAmean. Deepening of the anterior chamber as myopia progresses could render the corneal endothelium more fragile and susceptible to mechanical stress, which is an area worthy of further study.
本研究旨在探讨健康个体中央角膜内皮细胞密度（ECD）、内皮形态和角膜厚度（中央角膜厚度）与前房深度、角膜容积（CV）、角膜直径（WTW）距离、平均前房角（CAmean）和性别之间的关系。
本观察性研究纳入了 136 名健康志愿者。使用共焦显微镜测量 ECD、细胞面积变异系数和六边形细胞出现率（%Hex）。使用 Pentacam HR Scheimpflug 眼前段成像系统测量中央角膜厚度、前房深度、CV、WTW 距离和 12 个点的角度宽度。12 个点的算术平均值被认为是 CAmean。我们使用混合效应线性回归模型对数据进行统计分析。
ECD 与 CV 呈正相关（P = 0.028），但在调整年龄后，ECD 与年龄呈负相关（P < 0.001）。细胞面积变异系数与 CAmean 呈正相关（P = 0.036），但在调整年龄后，与年龄呈正相关（P < 0.001），与 CAmean 呈正相关（P = 0.005）。Hex 与 WTW（P = 0.023）和 CAmean（P = 0.025）呈负相关，在调整年龄后，这种相关性仍然存在（与 WTW 相关时为 P = 0.029，与 CAmean 相关时为 P = 0.035）。
前房角较宽的眼睛中央角膜内皮细胞形态有明显变化。在 CAmean 较宽的健康患者中，角膜内皮细胞的多形性和多核性增加。随着近视的发展，前房变深可能使角膜内皮细胞更加脆弱，容易受到机械应力的影响，这是一个值得进一步研究的领域。
