Corneal endothelial cell density and morphology in normal Malay eyes

This study was conducted to describe corneal endothelial cell density and morphology in Malay eyes. Non-contact specular microscopy was performed in 125 eyes of 125 Malay volunteers, aged 20-87 years. Studied parameters included endothelial cell density (CD), mean cell area (MCA), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell area, as well as hexagonal appearance of the cells. Mean endothelial cell density in the study population was 2648 +/- 310 cell/mm(2). Mean CA, CV and percentage of hexagonal cells were 382.8 +/- 47.7microm(2), 58.1 +/- 22.6, 44.3% +/- 11.5% respectively. There was a statistically significant decrease in endothelial cell density (correlation - 0.300, P = 0.001) and CV in cell size (correlation - 0.208, P = 0.02) with age. There was a statistically significant increase in mean cell area (correlation 0.300, P = 0.001) with increasing age. The correlation between age and percentage of hexagonal cells was insignificant (correlation 0.074, P = 0.41). In conclusion, a consistent decrease was noted in the endothelial cell density with increasing age. The differences in endothelial cell density between genders were statistically insignificant.