CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY OF THE DIABETIC CORNE A

Purpose To investigate with confocal microscopy the cornea of diabetic s type I and II. Material and Methods Thirty eyes of 10 patients with diabetes mellitus type I, 10 with d.m. type II, and 10 of controls wer e entered in the study. Eyes with corneal or anterior segments patholo gies were excluded. In-vivo corneal morphology was studied using a con focal microscope. Results Cell density of basal epithelial cells, ante rior stromal keratocytes, and endothelial cells did not differ signifi cantly between the groups. In the diabetic groups polymorphy of both e pithelial and endothelial cells was noted. Abnormal stromal nerves wer e also noted in 2 cases. Discussion Our findings support previous stud ies on corneal epithelial and endothelial morphology in diabetic patie nts. The corneal stroma appears to be affected only in its nerves, alt hough in few cases.