The Influence of Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus on Central Corneal Thickness in Children

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the central corneal thickness (CCT) in children with diabetes mellitus (DM), to compare the results with those of age- and sex-matched healthy subjects, and to assess the presence of any relationship between the disease-variable parameters and CCT. Materials and Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study included 138 eyes of 138 subjects. The CCT was measured by ultrasonic pachymetry in 66 children with type-1 DM and in 72 healthy subjects. The effects of the duration of DM, current hemoglobin A1c levels (HbA1c), and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels on CCT were also evaluated. Results: The demographic characteristics of the study and control groups were similar (p>0.05). The average CCT was greater in the study (555.2±38.6 µm) than in the control group (547.7±31.5 µm), but the difference was not statistically significant (independent t-test, p=0.211). CCT was also not significantly different in children with diabetes >5 years’ duration (554.6±39.3 µm) compared to diabetes ≤5 years’ duration (555.6±38.6 µm) (p>0.05), and there was no significant correlation between the CCT- and the DM-related parameters in the study group (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that DM does not affect the corneal thickness in adolescents. We also did not find any significant correlation between disease-related variables and the CCT. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2014; 44: 445-8)

Keywords

• Child
• central corneal thickness
• type-1 Diabetes Mellitus