Changes in the corneal endothelium as a function of age

Abstract

In vivo photomicrography has been used to examine the corneal endothelium of humans as a function of age. Sixty-one normal volunteers of both sexes ranging in age from 20 to 89 years of age were photographed. The endothelial photographs were analyzed to determine mean endothelial cell area for the central cornea and the frequency distribution of cell areas for each subject. The mean endothelial cell area was found approximately to double from age 20 to age 80. The increase in mean endothelial cell area with age was found to be statistically significant to better than the 0·1% level. The frequency distribution of cell area and cellular pleomorphism were also found to change with age. There was a statistically significant variability in the values of the difference in mean endothelial cell area between the two eyes of the population studied with age.