The correlation between corneal endothelial cell density, central corneal thickness and retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in glaucoma suspects and newly detected primary glaucoma patients.

Abstract

Purpose: To correlate corneal endothelial cell density, central corneal thickness and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in glaucoma suspects and newly detected primary glaucoma patients.Patients and Methods: This duration-based, case-control study included 219 patients of which 80 were glaucoma suspects, 60 primary open- angle glaucoma and 79 were controls. The data was collected at the department of ophthalmology at Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Bangalore. Specular microscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography were performed on each patient and analysed.Results: The mean endothelial cell density showed a significant difference in glaucoma suspects and primary open angle glaucoma in comparison with controls. The CCT showed only a minimal difference between the three groups. The comparative analysis of RNFL in controls, glaucoma suspects and primary open angle glaucoma showed that primary open angle glaucoma showed the highest thinning among the three groups. The mean value between the controls, glaucoma suspects and primary open angle glaucoma was significant with a p value