Objective To measure the corneal epithelial thickness in myopic eyes， and to study the relationship between corneal epithelial thickness and biomechanical properties. Methods In this cross-sectional study， 198 right eyes of 198 myopia or myopic astigmatism patients were enrolled. The age was 18-41 years old. The equivalent spherical refraction was -0.75- -10.38 D. Corneal epithelial thickness for different corneal zones （0-2 mm， >2-5 mm， >5-6 mm） was measured using RTVue-OCT. Different quadrant epithelial thickness， including the superior， superior temperal， temporal， inferior temperal， inferior， inferior nasal， nasal， superior nasal of the cornea， were obtained. Correlations of corneal epithelial thickness with corneal hysteresis （CH） and corneal resistance factor （CRF）， which were measured by ORA， were investigated. Three groups were divided according to the different corneal epithelial thickness. Mann-Whitney U test， Kruskal-Wallis test， multivariable linear regression method were used to analyze the data. Results The 0-2 mm， >2-5 mm， >5-6 mm corneal epithelial thickness median of the 198 eyes were 54.0（52.0-56.0）μm， 54.1（52.6-56.4）μm， 53.8（52.2-55.8）μm， respectively. No relationships were found among the three corneal zones （Z=3.860， P＞0.05）. While a statistically significant correlation was found among the eight quadrants（Z>2-5 mm=279.482， P＜0.01； Z>5-6 mm=210.442， P＜0.01）. The corneal epithelium was thinner superiorly than inferiorly （Z>2-5 mm=-5.243， P＜0.01， Z>5-6 mm=-8.101， P＜0.01）， no significant differences was found between nasall and temporal （Z>2-5 mm=-0.481， P＞0.05， Z>5-6 mm=-0.381， P＞0.05）. Positive relationships were found between the central corneal epithelial thickness with CH and CRF. The statistically significant different were found in three corneal epithelial thickness groups （CH：Z=8.945， P＜0.05； CRF： Z=9.225， P＜0.05）. Positive relationships were also found between the central corneal epithelial thickness and the age （r=-0.185， P＜0.01）. No relationships were found between the central corneal epithelial thickness and the diopter （r=-0.092， P＞0.05）. Conclusion The corneal epithelial thickness is not evenly distributed across the cornea. The epithelial thickness has a positive correlation with the corneal biomechanical properties.
侯杰,雷玉琳,郑秀云. 近视眼角膜上皮厚度分布特点及其与角膜生物力学性能的关系[J]. 中华眼视光学与视觉科学杂志, 2014, 16(5): 291-296.
Hou jie,Lei Yulin,Zheng Xiuyun. Corneal epithelial thickness in myopic eyes and its relationship with the corneal biomechanical properties. Chinese Journal of Optometry Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 2014, 16(5): 291-296. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-845X.2014.05.008
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