Endothelial Cell Density Changes in the Normal Korean Cornea During Life

ABSTRACT

Specular microscope has been used to examine the corneal endothelium of humans as a function of age. 82 normal eyes of 42 korean, 8 to 65 years of age, were examined with the contact-type specular microscope, and photographs of the central endothelium were obtained. The endothelial photographs were analyzed to determine mean endothelial cell density and the frequency distribution of cell density for each subject. The mean endothelial cell density was 2686 cell/mm2. The correlation coefficient between age and cell count showed that endothelial cell density decreased significantly with increasing age(p<0.01). No appreciable difference in cell density was found between the right and left eyes of the subjects nor between male and female subjects of similar age.