Corneal Changes Assessed Using Confocal Microscopy in Patients With Unilateral Buphthalmos

PURPOSE. To compare corneal structures in buphthalmic eyes and healthy eyes in patients with unilateral congenital glaucoma using a corneal confocal microscope. METHODS. Ten patients with unilateral buphthalmos (mean +/- SD age, 14.85 +/- 5.12 years) were examined using corneal confocal microscopy. The cell density and cell area of endothelial cells and superficial and basal epithelial cells and the number of keratocytes were evaluated. RESULTS. There was no significant difference between the cell density of superficial epithelial cells in buphthalmic eyes relative to healthy eyes (P = 0.1944). The cell density of basal epithelial cells was significantly higher (P = 0.0234) and the cell area was significantly smaller (P = 0.0181) in buphthalmic eyes relative to healthy eyes. There was no difference between the number of keratocytes in buphthalmic eyes and healthy eyes in the anterior stroma (P = 0.273) or in the posterior stroma (P = 0.0799). The cell density of endothelial cells was significantly lower and the cell area was significantly larger in buphthalmic eyes relative to healthy eyes (P = 0.0009). CONCLUSIONS. We demonstrated a lower cell density of endothelial cells in buphthalmic eyes. We found no differences in keratocyte density between the buphthalmic eyes and healthy eyes. The cell density of basal epithelial cells was higher in buphthalmic eyes. These differences could be due to buphthalmos or due to the previous surgical and medical therapies. Monitoring of these changes could help to contribute to accurate assessments regarding future ocular surgical procedures.