Correlation analysis between corneal biomechanical properties and high-order aberration in myopia

Objective

To investigate the correlations between corneal biomechanical properties and corneal high-order aberrations (HOAs) in myopic eyes.

Methods

In this retrospective study, 263 right eyes with myopia or myopic astigmatism were enrolled from January to October 2015 in Tianjin Eye Hospital.The values of first applanation time (A1T), first applanation length (A1L), first applanation velocity (A1V), second applanation time (A2T), second applanation length (A2L), second applanation velocity (A2V), highest concavity time (HCT), highest concavity deformation amplitude (HCDA), highest concavity peak distance (HCPD), highest concavity radius (HCR) and non-contact intraocular pressure (IOPnct) were measured using the corneal visualization Scheimpflug technology (Corvis ST). The central corneal thickness (CCT) and wavefront aberrations of the anterior, posterior surface, and the total cornea were measured with Pentacam.Pearson correlation and stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis were applied to analyze the correlations between biomechanical properties and corneal HOAs.This study follows the Helsinki declaration.The experiment was approved by the Ethic Committee of Tianjin Eye Hospital.Informed consent was signed from each patient.

Results

There was a correlation between biomechanical properties and corneal HOAs.Negative correlations were found between A1L and the spherical aberration, HOAs RMS of anterior surface, total RMS and HOAs RMS of the posterior surface and HOAs RMS of the total cornea (P<0.05). HCRs were negatively correlated with total RMS of the total cornea and the anterior surface (P<0.05). The A2V was correlated with various aberrations.Multiple stepwise linear regression model analysis showed that, the correlation between the aberrations of anterior surface and biomechanical parameters, and the correlations between the total corneal aberration and biomechanical parameters were weak, the correlations between the aberrations of posterior surface and biomechanical parameters were strong.

Conclusions

There is a correlation between the biomechanical properties and corneal HOAs.The changes of the corneal biomechanical properties are mainly associated with the posterior corneal aberrations, which may contribute to the early diagnosis of subclinical keratoconus or dilated corneal disease.