Premium
Influence of ethanol ingestion on the cornea
Author(s) -
Olsen Erling Grønvold,
Olsen Harald
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.1993.tb04664.x
Subject(s) - cornea , ingestion , ophthalmology , ethanol , medicine , visual acuity , chemistry , organic chemistry
. The corneal thickness variations on both eyes of thirteen healthy volunteers were measured in absence and presence of ethanol with ultrasound pachymetry. During ethanol ingestion, to a serum ethanol concentration of 0.98 ± 0.22 g/l, a small and transient, but statistically significant increase of the corneal thickness appeared (3.0 ± 3.4% right eye − 4.3 ± 2.9% left eye, p < 0.05). We suggest that ethanol causes a transient depression of the endothelial pump activity. The measured effect on the cornea is too small to cause reduced visual acuity on Snellen chart. However, a resulting loss of contrast sensitivity may have consequences for car driving and safety work.