Mapping the corneal thickness and volume in patients with Down syndrome: a comparative population-based study

To measure the central-to-peripheral corneal thickness and its volume according to age and gender in 10-30-year-old patients with Down syndrome (DS) and in matched individuals without DS.

In the report, 202 normal pattern right eyes of patients with Down syndrome and 190 right eyes of individuals without Down syndrome and compared averages using independent sample t-tests and multiple linear regression models. The measured variables included the apical corneal thickness; the minimum corneal thickness; the average thickness on rings at 2 mm (R2), 3 mm (R3), and 4 mm (R4); the corneal volume in the central zones at 2-, 3-, 4-, and 10-mm diameters; Ambrosio's relational thickness; and the pachymetric progression indices.

The mean age of the participants was 16.99 ± 4.70 and 17.22 ± 4.54 years (p=0.636). The means ± SD were 516.7 ± 33.0 and 555.7 ± 33.1 µm for apical corneal thicknesses, 508.0 ± 33.5 and 549.0 ± 40.6 µm for minimum corneal thicknesses, 543.0 ± and 588.4 ± 33.8 µm for R2s, 584.9 ± 35.6 and 637.0 ± µm for R3s, 646.9 ± 38.5 and 707.6 ± 37.1 µm for R4s, 396.4 ± 102.3 and 462.7 ± 96.2 µm for Ambrosio's relational thicknesses, 1.36 ± 0.37 and 1.22 ± 0.18 for pachymetric progression index maximums, 1.62 ± 0.11 and 1.74 ± 0.11 mm3 for corneal volume at 2 mm, 3.73 ± 0.24 and 4.01 ± 0.24 mm3 for corneal volume at 3 mm, 6.76 ± 0.44 and 7.30 ± 0.43 mm3 for corneal volume at 4 mm, and 57.03 ± 3.44 and 61.51 ± 3.40 mm3 for total corneal volume in the Down syndrome and control groups, respectively (all p<0.001). All the above indices were inversely related to age, but not to gender. Ambrosio's relational thickness maximum and the pachymetric progression index maximum were independent of age and gender.

Non-keratoconic patients with Down syndrome had thin corneas with a homogeneous distribution. Therefore, the reference ranges of cornea thickness and volume should be re-defined for this patient population.