Central corneal thickness in Japanese children.

PURPOSE: 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.