CORNEAL ENDOTHELIAL PERMEABILITY AND AQUEOUS-HUMOR DYNAMICS IN NORMAL-PRESSURE GLAUCOMA

Corneal endothelial permeability and aqueous humor dynamics were studi ed in 17 non-treated normal pressure glaucoma patients in order to ana lyse the relevance of these parameters in the pathophysiology of this disease. Corneal endothelial permeability and aqueous humor flow were measured by fluorophotometry and aqueous outflow facility was determin ed by tonography. The results were compared with those of 17 healthy c ontrols of similar age. The mean corneal endothelial permeability valu es and the aqueous flow and outflow facility values of the patients di d not differ significantly from those of the healthy controls (P = 0.8 , P = 0.2 and P = 0.5, respectively). Normal pressure glaucoma does no t affect the corneal endothelial permeability. The aqueous humor dynam ics are not primarily involved in the pathophysiology of normal pressu re glaucoma.