The contralateral corneal endothelium in the iridocorneal endothelial syndrome

Objective: To evaluate the corneal endothelial morphometric measures of the contralateral, clinically uninvolved eye of patients with the iridocorneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome. Design: A retrospective review of the specular microscopic photographs of the contralateral corneal endothelium of all patients with ICE syndrome seen at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Setting: Ophthalmology department, Mayo Clinic. Participants: Twenty-eight patients with unilateral ICE syndrome who had bilateral endothelial photographs (ICE group) and 28 normal, age-matched control subjects (control group). Main Outcome Measures: Percentage of hexagonal cells, coefficient of variation of cell area, and endothelial cell density. Methods: For each patient and control, 100 endothelial cells were digitized from projected endothelial photomicrographs of the central corneas in the uninvolved eyes. Results: A statistically significant decrease was noted in the mean percentage of hexagonal cells (ICE, 62%; control, 69%; P=.002), and an increase was noted in the mean coefficient of variation of cell area (ICE, 0.28; control, 0.25; P=.02) in the patients with ICE syndrome compared with normal, age-matched controls. The mean endothelial cell density did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (ICE, 2588; control, 2759; P=.10). Conclusion: Our data suggest that the clinically uninvolved, contralateral eyes in patients with ICE syndrome have subclinical endothelial abnormalities as evidenced by a relatively low percentage of hexagonal cells and a relatively high coefficient of variation of cell area.