Corneal thickness in eyes with diabetic and nondiabetic neovascularisation

The corneal thickness was measured in 20 patients with ocular neovascularisation of diabetic and nondiabetic aetiology. Mean corneal thickness (+/- SD) was 0.561 mm (+/- 0.027) and 0.499 mm (+/- 0.029) in the diabetic (n = 11) and the nondiabetic groups (n = 9), respectively (2p less than 0.001). The increased corneal thickness in the diabetic group is comparable to that previously reported in diabetics with proliferative retinopathy. These results indicate that the increased corneal thickness found in diabetics is peculiar to the diabetic eye and not secondary to the process of ocular neovascularisation as such.