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Morphometric analysis of the corneal endothelium
Author(s) -
Jackson A. J.,
Archer D. B.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
ophthalmic and physiological optics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.147
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1475-1313
pISSN - 0275-5408
DOI - 10.1046/j.1475-1313.1996.96833424.x
Subject(s) - corneal endothelium , endothelium , perimeter , cell , cornea , cell type , endothelial stem cell , pathology , cell size , pathological , biology , anatomy , ophthalmology , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , mathematics , biochemistry , genetics , geometry , endocrinology
Early developments in specular microscopy and quantitative corneal endothelial image analysis have resulted in the publication of material describing the morphometric appearance of the mosaic in health and disease. A broad range of morphometric parameters, including cell area, diameter, perimeter, form and shape, have been used to describe cellular appearances. In may cases the selection of parameters appears inappropriate and uncoordinated. In this study, the corneal endothelium of 300 normal, traumatised and pathological corneas was photographed using the Keeler Konan Pocklington specular microscope. The morphometric characteristics of endothelial cells were assessed using the Kontron Mop II semi‐automated image analysis system. Results indicate that cell density and mean cell area measurements provide the most useful indices of age‐related, post‐traumatic and pathological cell loss. Cell perimeter and cell diameter measurements add value in those cases where cellular migration occurs in response to trauma or localised cell loss. The quantification of intercellular cell area variability (polymegethism), and cell shape variability (pleomorphism), provides additional data on the effects of physiological stress. Cell form factors, which exhibit large intercellular variability, prove unhelpful when applied to global populations of cells. The authors conclude that in performing quantitative analysis of the corneal endothelium, specular microscopists should apply informed restraint when selecting parameters for morphometric analysis. The relative merits of a range of morphometric parameters are discussed.