Background: There is increasing research on the aging process of the cornea and its effect on the corneal parameters measured objectively. Nevertheless, the association of corneal epithelial thickness (CET) with age has yet to be fully illustrated.
Purpose: We aimed to measure CET in healthy subjects to determine its age-related variation by using an ultrasound device.
Patients and Methods: A total of one hundred and three subjects were enrolled in this study and grouped according to age: Group < 30 years, 31– 40 years, 41– 50 years, 51– 60 years, 61– 70 years, and > 71 years. The CET and total central corneal thickness (CCT) of each subject were measured by the Sonogage Corneo-Gage Plus 2 (Cleveland, Ohio) ultrasound pachymeter. The relationships between thickness values, laterality, age groups, and gender were analyzed using the Jonckheere-Terpstra test. The Partial correlation test was employed to assess the effect of age on the CET and CCT.
Results: The mean CET was 47.88± 1.15μm, with no statistically significant gender-related difference between right and left eyes. In addition, the CCT difference detected between female and male eyes was insignificant. The difference in mean CET across age groups was statistically significant (p =0.029). The difference in mean CET of left eyes across age groups was statistically significant (p=0.031). The mean CET and left CET of the oldest group were significantly thinner than the younger groups.
Conclusion: Ultrasound pachymeter of the corneal epithelium demonstrated that there was no correlation between age and CCT, or gender. The CET becomes thinner with age in the central zone in both genders and there is no difference between males and females. Based on these results, age has a negative effect on CET. These findings could offer further insight into age-related changes in the cornea.



中文翻译：

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用超声测厚仪测量角膜上皮厚度的年龄相关变化

背景：关于角膜的老化过程及其对客观测量的角膜参数的影响的研究越来越多。然而，角膜上皮厚度（CET）与年龄的关系尚未得到充分说明。
目的：我们旨在通过使用超声设备测量健康受试者的 CET 以确定其与年龄相关的变化。
患者和方法：共有 103 名受试者参加了这项研究，并根据年龄分组：< 30 岁、31-40 岁、41-50 岁、51-60 岁、61-70 岁和 > 71 岁。通过 Sonogage Corneo-Gage Plus 2 (Cleveland, Ohio) 超声测厚仪测量每个受试者的 CET 和总中央角膜厚度 (CCT)。使用 Jonckheere-Terpstra 检验分析厚度值、偏侧性、年龄组和性别之间的关系。采用偏相关检验来评估年龄对 CET 和 CCT 的影响。
结果：平均 CET 为 47.88± 1.15μm，左右眼性别相关差异无统计学意义。此外，女性和男性眼睛之间检测到的 CCT 差异不显着。不同年龄组的平均 CET 差异具有统计学意义（p = 0.029）。不同年龄组左眼平均 CET 的差异具有统计学意义（p=0.031）。年龄最大组的平均 CET 和左侧 CET 明显低于年轻组。
结论：角膜上皮的超声测厚仪表明年龄与 CCT 或性别之间没有相关性。CET 随年龄增长而在两性的中央区变薄，男女之间没有差异。基于这些结果，年龄对 CET 有负面影响。这些发现可以进一步深入了解角膜中与年龄相关的变化。