Measurements of axial length and radius of corneal curvature in the rabbit eye.

The axial length of the eye, the radius of the anterior corneal surface, and the diameter of the cornea were measured on 40 eyes of 20 New Zealand White rabbits. The ultrasonographic measurements of the axial length of the eye showed a mean value of 15.12 +/- 0.51 mm (15.33 +/- 0.50 mm in males, 14.96 +/- 0.46 mm in females). The mean corneal radius was 7.26 +/- 0.26 mm (7.18 +/- 0.9 mm in males, 7.32 +/- 0.33 mm in females); the mean value of the difference in corneal curvature between two principle meridians was 0.21 +/- 0.12 mm; and the mean horizontal and vertical diameters of the cornea were 13.41 +/- 0.34 mm and 13.02 +/- 0.30 mm, respectively. Although the diameter of the cornea of rabbits was bigger than that of humans (average, horizontal 11.75 mm, vertical 10.55 mm), the axial length of the eye was 0.7 times that of humans (23-24 mm), and the radius of corneal curvature was relatively smaller than that in humans (7.7-7.8 mm).