Abstract:
Objective: To evaluate the changes in corneal endothelium with age in normal Pakistani population Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in the Ophthalmology Department of the Helpers Eye Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan from March 12 to July 12, 2021. Two hundred eyes of 200 healthy subjects of both sexes between the ages of 20 to 70 years were recruited. Complete eye examination was done on each patient. Exclusion criteria included refractive error of >± 2.00 dioptres, corneal pathologies, glaucoma, uveitis, history of trauma, contact lens use, intraocular surgery, and diabetes mellitus. Corneal endothelial cell density (CED), mean cell area (MCA), coefficient of variation of cell size (CV) and hexagonality were analyzed by specular microscope (Shin-Nippon SPM-700; Rexxam Co.Ltd, Takamatsu, Japan). Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) demonstrated correlation between age and CED, CV, hexagonality and mean cell area. Results: Mean age was 43.00±12.32 years. A total of 136 (68%) participants were male and 64 (32%) were female. Mean CED, average cell area, CV in cell size and hexagonality were 2705.91±235.70, 368.81±26.58, 41.97±10.77, and 47.37±6.67 respectively. Corneal endothelium parameters among age groups were statistically significant (p< 0.01). Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) revealed that CED (r= -0.755) and hexagonality (r= -0.709) decline while average cell area (r= 0.694) and CV of size (r=0.548) increase with age. Conclusion: Our current study confirms the previous reports on relation of MCD, hexagonality, MCA, and CV with advancing age. The results of our study on endothelial cell in Pakistani population are beneficial for future researches.