Application of a modified keratometer in the study of corneal topography on Chinese subjects.

A corneal topography study was carried out on Hong Kong Chinese subjects using a modified keratometer. The Chinese corneal topography measured by this modified keratometer was similar to other studies using the Wesley-Jessen Photo Electronic Keratoscopy (PEK) System 2000. The mean p-values along the horizontal meridian and the vertical meridian were 0.82 and 0.87, respectively. A negative correlation was found between the p-value and the central corneal radius along the horizontal meridian which may indicate that a steeper central cornea will have a greater p-value. However, the correlation coefficient of 0.56 was not too certain for this conclusion to be drawn. A difference of 0.04 was found between the horizontal p-value and the vertical p-value, which may be a result of the tight lid tension along the vertical meridian. This modified keratometer can be considered as an inexpensive instrument for the study of corneal topography.