Corneal thickness in glaucoma: an important parameter?

Central corneal thickness was measured by pachometry in 49 patients with pr imary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), 41 with ocular hypertension (OHT), 14 wit h normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and 48 normal subjects. The mean corneal th ickness of the OHT patients was significantly greater than that of the norm al control group. The NTG patients, on the other hand, had a cornea on aver age thinner than the normals. These differences may cause misclassification of normals with a thick cornea as ocular hypertensive eyes or, contrarywis e, cause those normals whose IOP is underestimated because of a thin cornea to be classed as NTG patients.