• Ali Tayyab, Amena Masrur, Farooq Afzal, Fyza Iqbal, and Kamran Naseem.
• Department of Ophthalmology, Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad.
• J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2016 Jun 1; 26 (6): 494-7.

ObjectiveTo measure central corneal thickness in Pakistani population and determine its relationship to intra-ocular pressure, age, gender and ethnicity.Study DesignCross-sectional observation study.Place And Duration Of StudyPakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan, between December 2013 and February 2015.MethodologyThe right eyes of 1000 cases (496 males and 504 females) were recruited for this study. Inclusion criteria were Pashtun or Punjabi ethnicity, intra-ocular pressure < 22 mmHg, gonioscopically open angles, cup-disk-ratio < 0.5, and age matched normal visual fields. Cases with prior ocular surgery, contact lens use, corneal pathologies, myopia or hypermetropia > ±3.0 diopters, astigmatism of > ±1.0 diopters were excluded. Central corneal thickness was measured using a TopCon non-contact specular microscope. Intra-ocular pressure was measured using Goldmann applanation tonometer. Frequency distribution, test of significance, and regression analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0.ResultsMean age was 47.31 ±11.78 years. Ethnic composition was 51.6% (n=516) Pashtun and 48.4% (n=484) Punjabi. The mean central corneal thickness was 503.96 (±12.47) µm, while the mean intra-ocular pressure was 15.61 (±2.68) mmHg. Regression analysis showed a significant association between central corneal thickness and intra-ocular pressure (p=0.00) and age (p=0.00). A±100 µchange in central corneal thickness was associated with change in IOPof ±3.30 mmHg, whereas central corneal thickness decreased by 0.12 µm per year. No significant association could be established between central corneal thickness and ethnicity (p=0.19).ConclusionCentral corneal thickness of the studied races was comparable to non-Caucasians which affects intra-ocular pressure measurements, and decreases with increasing age. No relationship was observed between central corneal thickness and ethnicity or gender.

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