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Pseudoexfoliation syndrome decreases endothelial cell count, study shows
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CANCUN, Mexico — Pseudoexfoliation syndrome does not alter IOP or central corneal thickness, but it does decrease endothelial cell counts, according to an ophthalmologist speaking here at the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology meeting.
Marco Vinicio García-Solís, MD, and colleagues analyzed the effect of pseudoexfoliation syndrome on these factors by comparing patients with the syndrome with control patients in two separate study groups.
The first group included 34 eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome before and after pharmacologic dilation with phenylephrine. The researchers found that that pre- and post-dilation IOPs were 15 mm Hg in eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome. However, control eyes showed a "small but significant" change in IOP from 14 mm Hg pre-dilation to 15 mm Hg post-dilation, Dr. García-Solís said.
The second study group included 61 eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Investigators used specular microscopy to evaluate pachymetry measurements and endothelial cell counts compared with a matched control group.
Both groups had a mean central corneal thickness of 508 µm. However, endothelial cell counts averaged 2,462 cells/mm² for control eyes compared with 2,241 cells/mm² for eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome, Dr. García-Solís said.
"In patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome, IOP was not changed following pharmacologic mydriasis, central corneal thickness showed no alterations, and endothelial cell count was diminished," he said.