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AS-OCT measures thicker corneal epithelial thickness than in vivo confocal microscopy
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Researchers who used anterior segment OCT and in vivo confocal microscopy to measure epithelial thickness found the limbal epithelial thickness values were consistent between the two devices while differences were seen in corneal epithelial thickness values.
The researchers performed AS-OCT before IVCM on 38 subjects who underwent routine ocular examinations to rule out ocular abnormalities except ametropia. The right eye of each subject was examined by AS-OCT and IVCM.
The average corneal epithelial thickness measured by IVCM was 51.9±4.9 µm compared with 55.6±4 µm measured by AS-OCT.
“It was not surprising that [corneal epithelial thickness] values measured by AS-OCT were approximately 4 µm thicker than those by IVCM in the present study. As we mentioned, the currently commercially available AS-OCT system was unable to discriminate the thickness of precorneal tear film with routine scan mode due to the limitation of resolution,” the study authors said.
With AS-OCT, limbal epithelial thickness values measured at the nasal and temporal quadrants were significantly greater than when using IVCM (nasal: P=.019; temporal: P= .003). The AS-OCT and IVCM techniques revealed similar measurements of the limbal epithelial thickness superior and inferior quadrants.
Limbal epithelial thickness and corneal epithelial thickness values were significantly higher when researchers used AS-OCT compared with IVCM in subjects who were older than 40 years of age. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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Le Q, et al. BMC Ophthalmol. 2016;doi:10.1186/s12886-016-0342-x.
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