Evaluation of the corneal endothelium by specular microscopy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Songur, Murat Serkan; İntepe, Yavuz Selim; Bayhan, Seray Aslan; Bayhan, Hasan Ali; Çiftçi, Bülent

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the corneal endothelium in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using a specular microscope. METHODS The right eyes of 64 patients with a COPD diagnosis and 65 healthy individuals were evaluated. Cell density (cell / mm2 ), corneal thickness (µ), hexagonal cell ratio (%), and coefficient of variation (cell area standard deviation / mean cell area, µm2 ) were analyzed by specular microscopy. RESULTS The corneal thickness was significantly reduced in the COPD group compared to the control group (p = 0.021). Moreover, a significant difference was found between the COPD group and the control group in terms of corneal endothelial cell density (p = 0.011), hexagonal cell ratio (p = 0.008), and coefficient of variation (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION The corneal endothelial structure was significantly deteriorated in patients with COPD compared to the control group. Specular microscopy is a valuable method that could be used in treatment and follow-up of corneal endothelium in patients with COPD.