Background: To investigate the possible association of different pattern of diabetic retinopathy (DR) on corneal endothelium cells in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study, corneal endothelium parameters including endothelial cell density (ECD), average cell size (AVG), coefficient of variation in cell size (CV), and hexagonality (Hex) were evaluated by non-contact specular microscopy.
Results: One hundred and thirty-four eyes of 134 diabetic patients including 77 females (57.5%) with a mean age of 61.03 ± 8.08 years were enrolled. The overall corneal parameters in diabetic patients with and without retinopathy were not significantly different (P > 0.05). There is a significant relationship between CV and the duration of the disease with age variable control (B = 0.369, p-value < 0.001).
Conclusions: Corneal endothelial parameters were not associated with DM in patients without and with DR. There is a significant relationship between CV and the duration of the disease with age variable control.
Keywords: Corneal endothelium; Diabetic mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; Specular microscopy.
© 2022. The Author(s).