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Updated: Jun 30, 2025
Using a Laminating Technique to Perform Confocal Microscopy of the Human Sclera
Published on: May 6, 2016
Thickness of anterior sclera and corneal layers in systemic sclerosis
Emine Şeker Ün1, Gökhan Pekel2, Murat Tasci3
1Ophthalmology Department, Pamukkale University, 20070, Denizli, Turkey. eminesekerun@gmail.com.
Purpose:
To evaluate the thickness of anterior sclera and corneal layers in patients with systemic sclerosis.
Methods:
The present cross-sectional study included 41 patients with systemic sclerosis and 41 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The study and control groups were compared in terms of the thickness of anterior sclera, corneal epithelium, Bowman's layer, corneal stroma, and Descemet's membrane-endothelium complex. The thickness measurements were obtained using the anterior segment module of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
Results:
The thickness of anterior sclera, corneal epithelium, Bowman's layer, and Descemet's membrane-endothelium complex were similar in the patients with systemic sclerosis and healthy controls (P > 0.05). Total corneal thickness at the apex was 511.1 ± 33.5 µm in the systemic sclerosis group and 528.4 ± 29.5 µm in the control group (P = 0.015). The corneal stroma was thinner in the systemic sclerosis patients compared to the healthy controls (P = 0.02).
Conclusions:
The corneal stroma was thinner in the patients with systemic sclerosis compared to that of healthy controls, while the thickness of the anterior sclera was similar in both groups.
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