ABSTRACT

Purpose:

To evaluate the anterior segment structures using Pentacam in pediatric cases.

Material and Method:

One hundred sixty-two eyes (study group) of 81 healthy children who attended our clinic were compared with 114 eyes (control group) of 57 healthy adults. The central corneal thickness, anterior chamber volume, and anterior chamber depth of all cases were evaluated with Pentacam. Independent t-test and Pearson’s correlation analysis were used for statistics.

Results:

The mean age of the study group (40 male, 41 female) was 9.99±2.80 (range: 6-16) years. The mean central corneal thickness in the right eyes was 580.74±42.04 (range: 492-669) micrometers and in the left eyes was 586.52±43.51 (range: 495-699) micrometers. The mean anterior chamber depth, volume, and anterior chamber angle were 3.02±0.29 (range: 2.39-3.9) mm, 176.43±31.77 (range: 117-272) mm3 and 36.23±5.41 (range: 25.8-50.7) degree, respectively. When the right and the left eyes were compared, significant differences were observed between central corneal thickness (p=0.001) and anterior chamber angles (p=0.05). The mean left eye keratometry was found to be significantly flatter in children (p=0.002). The mean anterior chamber depth, anterior chamber volume, and anterior chamber angle values were higher in children than in adults (p<0.001).

Discussion:

Pentacam is an easy-to-use and noninvasive technique that can be used for the evaluation of central corneal thickness and anterior chamber even in pediatric cases. Significant differences were detected in measurements with this device between adults and pediatric cases, and between the right and left eyes. Being aware of these differences in normal eyes will be a guide in correct evaluation of pathologic eyes. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2011; 41: 133-7)