Correlation of histologic corneal endothelial cell counts with specular microscopic cell density
K. K. Williams, R. L. Noe, H. E. Grossniklaus, C. Drews-Botsch and H. F. Edelhauser
Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga. 30322.
The central endothelia of 48 eye bank corneas from donors ranging in age
from 5 weeks to 88 years were photographed using in vitro specular
microscopy. Computer-assisted morphometric analysis of the size and shape
of endothelial cells was performed, and cell density was calculated.
Histologic examination of the corneas after specular microscopy determined
endothelial cell counts using x40 objective magnification. The mean
endothelial cell counts from five different high-power fields were
calculated. Results showed that there is a direct correlation between cell
number and specular microscopy cell density (r = .91 and Spearman rank
correlation, 0.69; both significant at P less than .01). A nomogram was
developed to estimate corneal endothelial cell density from high-power
field cell counts of pathologic specimens.
