Effect of Age on Individual Corneal Epithelial Thickness in Normal Eyes as Measured with Ultrasound Pachymeter

Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine age-relatedvariation in the thickness of the corneal epithelium using ultrasound pachymeter. Methods: One hundred three patients were enrolled in this study and grouped according to age: Group A (< 30 years), group B (31-40 years), group C (41-50 years), group D (51-60 years), group E (61-70), and group F (> 71). Total corneal and corneal epithelial thickness measurements were made using the SonogageCorneo-Gage Plus 2 (Cleveland, Ohio) ultrasound pachymeter. Correlations of central epithelial thickness with central total corneal thickness, age, and gender were calculated. In addition, mean central epithelial thickness (CET) was measured. One-way ANOVA testing and post hoc analysis with the Tukey test and Pearson correlation were performed to analyze data. Results: The mean epithelial thickness at the central cornea was 47.88±1.15 μm, with no statistically significant difference between right and left eyes, and no significant differences in gender or central total corneal thickness. The difference in mean epithelial thickness across age groups was statistically significant (p <0.008). The mean epithelial thickness of the > 71 years group was significantly thinner than that of the < 30 years, 31-40, 41-50, and 51-60 years age groups. Conclusions: Ultrasound pachymeter of the corneal epithelium demonstrated that the oldest age group (> 71 years) had significantly thinner central corneal epithelial thickness than the younger age groups. There was no correlation between epithelial thickness, total corneal thickness, gender, or laterality.