Comparison of corneal epithelial thickness profile in dry eye patients, keratoconus suspect, and healthy eyes

Purpose: To compare the corneal epithelial thickness profile in patients with dry eyes and keratoconus suspect with normal healthy eyes. Methods: The study involved 120 eyes with an age range from 19 to 30 years. Forty eyes had normal corneal topography and no dry eyes. Forty eyes had dry eyes but had normal corneal topography. The last 40 eyes were keratoconus suspect and had no symptoms or signs of dry eyes. Results: Central epithelial thickness was not different statistically for all eyes. ( p-value: 0.1). The superior epithelial thickness was 53.5 µm ±3.1 in the control group, 53.4 µm ±3.5 in the dry eye group, and 53.6 µm ±2.8 in the keratoconus suspect group. No statistically significant difference was found ( p-value = 0.7). The inferior epithelial thickness was 55.7 µm ±3.5 in the control, 57.2 µm ±3.19 in the dry eyes, and 52.2 µm ±3.12 in the KC suspects. There was inferior thickening in the dry eyes and thinning in the KC suspects and this was statistically significant ( p-value < 0.01). Minimum epithelial thickness was 52.8 µm ±2.91 in the control and 53.2 µm ±3.51 in the dry eyes and it was located superiorly for both groups. In the KC suspects, the minimum thickness was 52.3 µm ±3.19 and was located inferiorly. Conclusion: In our study the epithelium appears to be thicker inferiorly in dry eyes and thinner in KC suspects. Displacement of thinnest location on epithelial map may be a helpful early sign of keratoconus. However, follow-up study is necessary to confirm the thinnest location displacement helped in this diagnosis.