title: Reassessment of the corneal endothelial cell organisation in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess uniformity of the corneal endothelial cell mosaic in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  36 healthy children (5-11 years old, 16 boys, 20 girls) were assessed by specular microscopy. Endothelial cell density (ECD) was calculated from measured cell areas, and the number of sides/cell noted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Average values for ECD and cell areas were 3987 cells/mm(2) (95% CI 3806 to 4168 cells/mm(2)) and 278 (SD 85) mm(2) respectively, with normal distribution (COV 28. 2%, range 17.4 to 39.2%) and with the average percentage of six sided cells being 66.6% (8.8%). Cell area was positively correlated to number of cell sides (p <0.01, r(2)=0.993), but the percentage of six sided cells was negatively correlated to ECD (p <0.01, r=0.493).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high ECD occurs in children, but this does not mean there is a high percentage of "hexagons".
authors.affiliation: Glasgow Caledonian University, Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow G4 0BA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Doughty
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D002452:Cell Count; D048429:Cell Size; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003315:Cornea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019781:Corneal Topography; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014463:Ultrasonography