To Study the Distribution of Corneal and Corneal Epithelial Thickness in Healthy Western Indian Eyes
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Abstract
Aim: To evaluate the distribution of corneal as well as corneal epithelial thickness among competent western Indian eyes.
Material and Methods: The study was conducted in Western India at a tertiary care ophthalmology facility. Participants sought advice for refractive errors or laser refractive surgery as well as were healthy adults. Subjects underwent an intraocular pressure measurement with a noncontact tonometer, a slit-lamp examination of their eyes, a dilated pupil examination of their corneas, and a slit-lamp examination of their uveas. Exemption criteria included long-term topical medications, dry eye disease, being pregnant or nursing, and a background of wearing lenses during the previous four months. Data were only gathered from single eye of every participant, having the study eye getting selected by computer programme at random.
Results: Fifty eyeballs were collected from 50 participants, 23 (46%) of them were male and 27 (54%) were female. The ratio of left to right eyes was 24 to 26, or 48% to 52%. A sector‑wise analysis did not indicate any significant link between the overall corneal thickness and epithelial thickness (all P > 0.05) except in the outer superior sector where there was a modest positive correlation (r = 0.32, P = 0.03). Nearly 11.9± 2% of total corneal thickness may be attributed to the epithelium, as measured by the mean epithelial thickness to corneal thickness (ET/CT) ratio of 0.13±0.01. ET/CT ratios ranged from 0.1 0.02 to 0.12± 0.07 (P > 0.05), with no significant difference between the lowest and greatest values.
Conclusion: We present the distribution of corneal epithelial as well as overall corneal thickness in healthful eyes in a predominantly Western Indian group and a correlation of such parameters between genders. As has been initially revealed in the literature, it was discovered that the distribution of epithelium really wasn't uniform throughout the seven mm region under study. There had been a distinct superior-inferior asymmetry, as well as the distribution of epithelium didn't appear to be strongly linked to the width of the underlying stroma.
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