Central corneal thickness in Japanese children.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the central corneal thickness (CCT) in Japanese children and to investigate the changes in CCT with increasing age.


METHODS
Pachymetry was performed on 338 eyes of 169 patients undergoing eye muscle surgery under general anesthesia, and the intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured on 312 eyes of 156 of those same patients. Patients with abnormalities other than refractive errors and strabismus were excluded. Patients were divided into four groups: group 1, < or =1 year of age; group 2, 2-4; group 3, 5-9; and group 4, 10-18 years of age. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the significance of the changes in CCT.


RESULTS
The average CCT of the right eye was 544.3 +/- 36.9 microm. The CCT was thinner in group 1 than in groups 3 and 4 (ANOVA, P = 0.02). There was a positive but weak correlation between IOP and CCT (IOP = 6.253 + 0.014 x CCT; r (2) = 0.047, P = 0.007).


CONCLUSIONS
CCT reaches the adult thickness in Japanese children by age 5 years. The average CCT is thinner in Japanese children than in Caucasians but thicker than in African American children.
Hikoya
Akiko
A
Department of Ophthalmology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Sato
Miho
M
Department of Ophthalmology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan. mihosato@hama-med.ac.jp.|Department of Ophthalmology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handa-yama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, 431-3192, Japan. mihosato@hama-med.ac.jp.
Tsuzuki
Kinnichi
K
Department of Ophthalmology, Aichi Children's Health and Medical Center, Obu, Japan.
Koide
Yuka Maruyama
YM
Department of Ophthalmology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Asaoka
Ryo
R
Department of Ophthalmology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Hotta
Yoshihiro
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan.
D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology*; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000601:surgery; D014463:Ultrasonography