Corneal Biomechanical Characteristics in Patients with Behcet Disease

Aim: To examine corneal biomechanical properties, intraocular pressure, and central corneal thickness in uveitic eyes with Behcet disease (BD) and to compare them with healthy controls. Methods: This study included 40 eyes of 34 patients with ocular BD and 20 eyes of 20 healthy controls. Eyes with ocular BD were subdivided into active and inactive groups. Ocular response analyzer (ORA) measurements were performed on the 20 eyes of 16 patients with active BD (group 1), 20 eyes of 18 patients with inactive BD (group 2), and 20 eyes of 20 healthy volunteers who served as the control group (group 3). Corneal hysteresis (CH), corneal resistance factor (CRF), intraocular pressure (Goldmann correlated [IOPg], and corneal compensated [IOPcc]) and central corneal thickness (CCT) values were recorded. Results: Mean age of patients in groups 1, 2, and 3 was 33.81 +/- 9.36, 32.38 +/- 9.08, and 31.05 +/- 5.85 years, respectively (p = 0.76). Mean CH, CRF, IOPg, IOPcc, and CCT values in groups 1, 2, and 3 were [8.51 +/- 1.88, 9.72 +/- 2.11, 19.87 +/- 2.92, 16.13 +/- 3.29, and 592.50 +/- 39.95], [8.46 +/- 1.82, 8.45 +/- 1.98, 15.89 +/- 2.68, 15.35 +/- 2.91, and 528.35 +/- 19.18], and [8.47 +/- 1.48, 8.43 +/- 1.58, 15.59 +/- 2.74, 15.42 +/- 3.19, and 526.30 +/- 18.21], respectively [(p(1) = 0.040, 0.904, <0.001, 0.495 and <0.001 for CRF, CH, IOPg, IOPcc and CCT in group 1, respectively), (p(2) = 0.989, 0.904, 0.659, 0.989, and 0.989 for CRF, CH, IOPg, IOPcc and CCT in group 2, respectively), (p(3) = 0.989, 0.904, 0.660, 0.989, and 0.989 for CRF, CH, IOPg, IOPcc and CCT in group 3, respectively)]. Conclusion: CRF, IOPg, and CCT values altered in active BD group when compared with inactive BD and control group (p<0.005). Further studies are required to establish the effects of BD on corneal biomechanical properties.