Anterior chamber depth and chamber angle and their associations with ocular and general parameters: the Beijing Eye Study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the normative data of anterior chamber depth (ACD) and angle width and their associations in Chinese adults.


METHODS
Population-based study.


METHODS
The Beijing Eye Study 2006 included 3,251 subjects (73.3%) (aged 45+ years) out of 4,439 subjects who participated in the 2001 survey and who returned for reexamination. The subjects underwent an ophthalmologic examination including measurement of the anterior chamber dimensions by slit-lamp-based optical coherence tomography (OCT).


RESULTS
Out of the 3,251 subjects, OCT measurements were available for 2,985 subjects (91.8%). Mean ACD measured 2.42 +/- 0.34 mm and the mean anterior chamber angle (ACA) was 38.3 +/- 16.3 degrees. In multivariate analysis, a shallow chamber depth was significantly associated with age (P < .001), hyperopic refractive error (P < .001), female gender (P < .001), short body stature (P = .003), nuclear cataract (P = .03), central corneal thickness [CCT] (P < .001), large optic disk (P < .001), and presence of chronic angle-closure glaucoma (P < .001). Correspondingly, a narrow ACA was associated with age (P < .001), female gender (P < .001), hyperopia (P < .001), nuclear cataract (P < .001), short body stature (P = .001), large optic disk (P < .001), and angle-closure glaucoma (P < .001). Chamber depth and angle width were not associated with presence of age-related maculopathy and diabetic retinopathy.


CONCLUSIONS
A shallow anterior chamber and a narrow chamber angle in Chinese adults are associated with age, female gender, hyperopia, nuclear cataract, small optic disk, short body stature, CCT, and chronic angle-closure glaucoma. These data may be helpful to explain anatomic relationships of the anterior segment of the eye, and to elucidate risk factors of angle-closure glaucoma.
Xu
Liang
L
Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Cao
Wei Fang
WF
Wang
Ya Xing
YX
Chen
Chang Xi
CX
Jonas
Jost B
JB
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000867:Anterior Chamber / Q000473:pathology*; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D001824:Body Constitution; D002386:Cataract / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015812:Glaucoma, Angle-Closure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000002:abnormalities*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014129:Trabecular Meshwork / Q000473:pathology*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data