Changes In The Corneal Cell Density And Morphology In Patients With Diabetic Retinopathy By In Vivo Confocal Microscopy

Objective To observe corneal cell density and morphological changes in patients with diabetic retinopathy.Methods110eyes of55patients with DR are enrolled in the study group and40eyes of20matched patients with age-related cataract and without diabetes mellitus as the control group, the study group was divided into five groups according to the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Scale:DR-1(group1), DR-2(group2), DR-3(group3), DR-4(group4), DR-5(group5). The mean corneal cell density and morphology were evaluated and statistical analysis.ResultsThe changes in the corneal cell density and morphology between the study group and the control group and the difference in the DR groups were observed with confocal microscopy. The decreased density of corneal basal epithelium, stromal cell and endothelial cell were observed compared with the control group, the same result with the coefficient of variation (CV) and the percentage of Hexagonal cells (Hexagonality) of the endothelial cell. The difference between the DR groups:the difference of the density of the corneal basal epithelium was statistically significant except the group4and5, the anterior and the mid-stromal cell density was statistically significant, the posterior stromal cell density was statistically significant except the group2and3, the density of the endothelium cell was statistically significant except the group2and3and the group4and5, the CV was statistically significant except the group3and4and the Hexagonality was statistically significant.ConclusionCorneal confocal microscopy is a growing technique for the study of the cornea at the cellular level, providing images comparable to ex vivo histochemical methods, the study showed the changes in the corneal cell density and morphology in patients with diabetic retinopathy.