Comparison of the corneal endothelium in an American and a Japanese population.

We compared the corneal endothelial morphology between an age-matched population of American and Japanese persons. Endothelial specular photographs were subjected to a computer-assisted morphometry of the area and shape of individual cells. The endothelium in the Japanese population showed a significantly higher cell density when compared with an age-matched American population. However, there was no difference in the degree of variations in cell area and cell shape between the two populations. The results suggest that higher endothelial cell density in the Japanese population could be related to the lower incidence of aphakic bullous keratopathy in the Japanese population.