SPECULAR MICROSCOPIC EVALUATION OF CORNEAL ENDOTHELIUM IN NORMAL EGYPTIAN EYES AND ITS RELATION TO AGE, GENDER, AND REFRACTION

Aim : Describe the parameters of corneal endothelial cell of normal Egyptians and to determine its correlation with sex, age, and refractive eye state. Methods : Non-contact specular microscopy was performed in 390 eyes of healthy Egyptian. Age, sex, refractive state, Endothelial cell density (ECD), the standard deviation of hexagonal cells HEX, coefficient of variation (CV) were analyzed. The system recorded the mean cell density MCD (cell/mm2), mean cell area MCA (μm2), central corneal thickness CCT, and HEX percentage. Results : The population's mean age was 48.90±15.77. There were 158 (40.5%) males and 232 (59.5%) females. The MCD was 2762.27±327.72. The mean CV in the cell size was 30.91±5.50, and the HEX percentage was 65.62±6.39. The mean CCT was 542.48±37.57. The ECD decreased from 2822.32 in the 20-30-year age group to 2475.64 in the 71– 80-year age group, with no substantial correlation between ECD and age. There were no substantial differences in HEX percentage, CV, and ECD between females and males. However, there was a statistical difference in CCT between females and males, with a P-value of 0.007. There was a marked difference in ECD between emmetropes, hypermetropic, and myopes, with a P-value of 0.001. Moreover, there was a substantial difference in CCT between emmetropes, hypermetropic, and myopes. Nonetheless, there were no statistically significant differences in HEX percentage and CV among emmetropes, hypermetropic, and myopes. Conclusion : Our study provides normative data for the corneal endothelium in healthy Egyptian eyes, adding to the expanding body of information about CEC parameters in healthy Egyptian eyes.