Corneal endothelium and central corneal thickness changes in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to compare the corneal endothelial cell density (ECD), morphological features, and central corneal thickness (CCT) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with age-matched, nondiabetic control subjects using EM-3000 Specular Microscope.

STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, hospital-based, nonrandomized, case-control, observational, and quantitative study.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study included 57 patients (57 eyes) with type 2 DM and 45 control (nondiabetic) subjects (45 eyes). The corneal endothelial structure and CCT were examined in all eyes by noncontact specular microscopy using EM-3000 Specular Microscope. The endothelial structure was studied for ECD, coefficient of variation of cell area (CV), and percentage of hexagonal cells.

RESULTS: The study included 36 eyes without diabetic retinopathy (DR), 14 eyes with nonproliferative DR, and 7 eyes with proliferative DR. There were 26 eyes with a duration of ≤10 years and 31 eyes with a duration of >10 years. Also, there were 24 eyes with HbA1c ≤7.5% and 33 eyes with HbA1c >7.5%. ECD was significantly lower in the diabetic cornea than in control group ( P =0.014). CV was higher in diabetic cornea ( P =0.008). The diabetic cornea group had lower percentage of hexagonal cells than the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant ( P =0.603). Also, diabetic cornea was thicker than control group, but not statistically significant ( P =0.301).

CONCLUSION: This study documented that type 2 DM causes a significant reduction of ECD and increased CV (polymegathism). Also, diabetic cornea has increased CCT and lower percentage of hexagonal cells than normal subjects, but without statistical significance.