title: Central corneal thickness and corneal endothelial cell changes caused by contact lens use in diabetic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the effects of soft contact lenses on central corneal thickness and morphologic characteristics of the corneal endothelium in diabetic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ultrasound pachymetry and noncontact specular microscopy were performed on 26 diabetic patients who regularly use soft contact lenses (group 1), 27 diabetic patients who do not use soft contact lenses (group 2) and 30 normal subjects (group 3). We compared the values in each group using the Mann-Whitney test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The central cornea was found to be thicker in diabetic patients, both those who use and do not use contact lenses, than in the normal control group. The central corneal thickness was significantly higher in group 1 (564.73 ± 35.41 μm) and group 2 (555.76 ± 45.96 μm) than in the control group (534.05 ± 27.02 μm), but there was no statistically significant difference between groups 1 and 2. Endothelial cell density was significantly different between the groups, and was smallest in the group of diabetic patients using contact lenses. The coefficient of variation of cell size was significantly higher and the percentage of hexagonal cells was significantly lower in contact lens using diabetic patients than in non-contact lens using diabetic patients and in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Central corneal thickness and endothelial cell density is more affected by diabetes mellitus, and corneal endothelial cell morphology is more affected by contact lens use, when compared with normal subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, Eulji University, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Leem
authors.forename: Koon Ja
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ki Cheul
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology; D055954:Corneal Endothelial Cell Loss / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult