Corneal endothelium evaluation in type I and type II diabetes mellitus.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the corneal endothelium in type I and type II diabetic patients.


METHODS
Seventy-five diabetics divided into type I and type II groups and 62 healthy volunteers took part in the study. The mean endothelial cell density and morphology, and the central corneal thickness were evaluated and statistical analysis was done.


RESULTS
All evaluated parameters were found to be significantly different in both diabetic groups with reduction of the mean cell density of 5% in type II and of 11% in type I diabetes with respect to the normal age-matched control group. Important alterations of endothelial morphology were observed. The central corneal pachymetry was significantly higher in diabetics, with p < 0.01 in the type I group and p < 0.05 in the type II group.


CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that corneal endothelium in diabetics should still be considered as a tissue under continuous metabolic stress with consequent high vulnerability, especially in case of any external insult such as a surgical procedure.
Institute of Ophthalmology, University of Messina, Italy.
A M
AM
Roszkowska
C G
CG
Tringali
P
P
Colosi
C A
CA
Squeri
G
G
Ferreri
D000328:Adult; D002452:Cell Count; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results