Endothelial cell population changes of human cornea during life
A. Laule, M. K. Cable, C. E. Hoffman and C. Hanna
A photo slit lamp was used to obtain color, specular reflex, high
magnification photographs of the corneal endothelium of subjects ranging in
age from 3 to 88 years. Multiple areas of the cornea were examined to
determine the endothelial cell population. No appreciable difference in
cell density was found between the right and left eyes of the subjects nor
between male and female subjects of similar age. Apparent defects in the
endothelial cell coverage of Descemets membrane were found in subjects as
young as 20 years of age and with increased frequency in older age groups.
These defects were at times associated with variations in endothelial cell
populations between the central and peripheral cornea. The average corneal
cell population fell from nearly 1 million cells in the first years of life
to about one third that number by the eight decade of life.
