Evaluation of corneal endothelium morphology in diabetic patients

Purpose
To evaluate the influence of diabetes mellitus and type of hipoglicemic therapy on corneal endothelium cell morphology.

Material and methods
In 68 diabetic patients’ eyes with non proliferative diabetic retinopathy (29 males and 39 females), corneal endothelium was studied. Patients age was between 50 and 82 years (mean 63.28). As age-matched control group we analyzed 58 eyes of non diabetic patients. Corneal endothelium density, percentage of corneal endothelium hexagonal cells, average size of corneal endothelium cells and corneal thickness were imaged by non– contact specular microscope TOPCON SP-2000P.

Results
The mean corneal endothelium cell density was: 2467 cells/mm2 in diabetic patients, and 2573 cells/ mm2 in control group. The mean percentage of corneal endothelium hexagonal cells was: 55.3% in diabetic patients treated with insulin and 52.9% in diabetic patients treated with oral antidiabetic drugs, and 54.4% in the control group. The mean size of corneal endothelium cells was: 414.6 μm2 in diabetic patients, and 395.9 μm2 in the control group. The mean corneal thickness was: 0.556 mm in diabetic patients and 0.545 mm in the control group.

Conclusions
Corneal endothelium was thicker in diabetic patients than in non diabetic patients. The duration of diabetes mellitus had no influence on corneal endothelium cell morphology. Diabetic patients treated with oral antidiabetic drugs had larger percentage of hexagonal cells than those treated with insulin.