| Objective: To describe the corneal endothelial cell density and morphology in the normal Chinese population and to compare endothelial cell characteristics in the Chinese population with data available in literature for Indian, Japanese and Filipino populations.
Methods: Specular microscopy was performed in 680 eyes of 390 normal volunteers aged 10 to 98 years; of these 150 were male, and 140 were female. Volunteers were divided into 7 groups according to age. Cell area, cell density (CD), standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell size and haxagonality were recorded and analyzed in relation to gender and age.
Results: Endothelial cell density was 3461±377 cells/mm2, 3009±233 cells/mm2, 2892±320 cells/mm2, 2826±310 cells/mm2, 2952±253 cells/mm2, 2772±252 cells/mm2, and 2708±335 cells/mm2, respectively in the age groups (10～19yr, 20~29yr, 30~39yr, 40~49yr, 50~59yr, 60~69yr, ≥70yr). There was a statistically significant decrease in endothelial cell density (p < 0.001, correlation -0.473) and the percentage of hexagonal cells (p< 0.001, correlation -0.184) with age. There was also a statistically significant increase in cell area (p < 0.001, correlation 0.470) and CV (p< 0.001, correlation 0.176) with increasing age. No significant difference was found in the parameters between genders.
Conclusion: Normative data for the endothelium in the Chinese population from 10 to 98 years are reported. Endothelial cell density in Chinese eyes is less than the values described in the Japanese, greater than that reported in Indians, and not different from that reported in Filipino populations.
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