Characteristics of the Corneal Endothelium Across the Primary Angle Closure Disease Spectrum

PURPOSE. To evaluate the corneal endothelial characteristics across the primary angle closure (PAC) disease spectrum amongst patients diagnosed as PAC suspects (PACS), PAC, PAC glaucoma (PACG), and previous acute PAC (APAC). METHODS. We analyzed a total of 529 subjects (51 PACS, 170 PAC, 234 PACG, and 74 with previous APAC). All subjects had undergone laser peripheral iridotomy prior to study recruitment. Corneal endothelial parameters were measured using a noncontact specular microscope and the following parameters were obtained: mean central endothelial cell density (ECD; cells/mm(2)), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell area, and percentage of hexagonal cells. RESULTS. The mean age of the subjects was 65.1 +/- 8.2 years, and 55.2% were females. The mean central ECD was 2582.0 +/- 472.8 cells/mm(2) in PACS, 2566.0 +/- 408.3 cells/mm(2) in PAC, 2523.8 +/- 406.8 cells/mm(2) in PACG, and 2504.0 +/- 558.1 cells/mm(2) in APAC, with no significant differences in ECD across the subgroups (P = 0.61). The CV was lowest in PACS (34.38 +/- 6.05 mu m(2)/cell), and highest in APAC (37.61 +/- 7.98 mu m(2)/cell), but the differences were not significant (P = 0.07). Likewise, the percentage of hexagonality was not significantly different between the groups. A subgroup analysis on the eyes with previous APAC with their fellow eye also showed no significant differences in the corneal endothelial characteristics. CONCLUSIONS. The corneal ECD and morphological characteristics such as CV and hexagonality are not significantly different across the PAC disease spectrum. This may reflect the lack of a sustained and/or dramatic IOP insult and/or an insignificant deleterious effect from medications, age, and chronicity on corneal endothelial parameters.