The contralateral corneal endothelium in the iridocorneal endothelial syndrome.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the corneal endothelial morphometric measures of the contralateral, clinically uninvolved eye of patients with the iridocorneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome.

DESIGN

A retrospective review of the specular microscopic photographs of the contralateral corneal endothelium of all patients with ICE syndrome seen at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

SETTING

Ophthalmology department, Mayo Clinic.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-eight patients with unilateral ICE syndrome who had bilateral endothelial photographs (ICE group) and 28 normal, age-matched control subjects (control group).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Percentage of hexagonal cells, coefficient of variation of cell area, and endothelial cell density.

METHODS

For each patient and control, 100 endothelial cells were digitized from projected endothelial photomicrographs of the central corneas in the uninvolved eyes.

RESULTS

A statistically significant decrease was noted in the mean percentage of hexagonal cells (ICE, 62%; control, 69%; P = .002), and an increase was noted in the mean coefficient of variation of cell area (ICE, 0.28; control, 0.25; P = .02) in the patients with ICE syndrome compared with normal, age-matched controls. The mean endothelial cell density did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (ICE, 2588; control, 2759; P = .10).

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that the clinically uninvolved, contralateral eyes in patients with ICE syndrome have subclinical endothelial abnormalities as evidenced by a relatively low percentage of hexagonal cells and a relatively high coefficient of variation of cell area.