부산대학교 도서관

Objectives: The corneal endothelium does not regenerate, and hence, its integrity is essential to maintain corneal clarity. In view of scarce and contradicting literature on the influence of open-angle glaucoma on endothelial cell density (ECD), and lack of direct head-to-head studies comparing the ECD in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PXFG), we conducted a cross-sectional study to compare the ECD in these eyes in comparison with normal eyes without glaucoma. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out at a tertiary eye care center in Western India. We enrolled 141 eyes of 141 participants in the study with 47 eyes each in the controls: POAG and PXFG groups. Group differences across the three groups in the continuous variables were analyzed using the analysis of variance or the Kruskal–Wallis test. Differences across the POAG and PXF groups were assessed using the Student t-test of the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for nonparametric variables. Group differences across categorical variables were analyzed using the Chi-square or Fischer’s exact test. Results: In multivariable linear regression analysis adjusted for age, eyes with POAG had an endothelial cell count of 185 cells/mm2 lower than normal eyes (95% confidence interval [CI] =132–238 cells lower, P < 0.001). Similarly, eyes with PXFG had an endothelial cell count of 215 cells lower than normal eyes (95% CI = 162–267 cells lower, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Eyes with POAG and PXFG have lower endothelial cell count compared to age-matched controls.