Central Corneal Thickness and Intraocular Tension in Patients With Acromegaly

Abstract

In 27 patients with pituitary adenomas the central corneal thickness and the intraocular tension were measured. Thirteen of the patients were suffering from acromegaly, and in this group the central corneal thickness was 0.561 mm +/- 0.35 (mean +/- SD). In the 14 patients with pituitary adenomas but no acromegaly the central corneal thickness was 0.526 mm +/- 0.030 (mean +/- SD). This difference is statistically significant 0.01 greater than P greater than 0.001. In the 13 patients with acromegaly the intraocular tension measured by applanation was 16.9 mmHg +/- 2.3 (mean +/- SD) and in the control group 14.7 mmHg +/- 2.4 (mean +/- SD). This difference is statistically significant (0.05 greater than P greater than 0.02). When the applanation reading is corrected for the difference in the central corneal thickness, the patients suffering from acromegaly have an intraocular tension of 14.1 mmHg, which is of the same magnitude as the tension in the patients without acromegaly.

Elevated intraocular pressure in patients with acromegaly

“…This is supported by the fact that when IOP was corrected for CCT according to the formula proposed by Doughty and Zaman [18], no significant IOP difference could be detected between acromegalic and healthy subjects. Our results corroborate findings by Bramsen et al [12]. The authors investigated GAT readings and CTT measurements obtained with optical pachymetry in patients with pituitary tumors with (n=13) and without acromegaly (n=14).…”

“…Published evidence to date has indicated that IOP is significantly increased in acromegalic patients when compared with healthy subjects [12,14,27]. Consequently, acromegaly has been considered a risk factor for glaucoma development [10,11].…”

“…Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) has been previously reported in patients with acromegaly [10][11][12]. A study by Greco and coworkers [13] showed that, after intravenous injection of arginine, patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) exhibited higher GH levels than healthy controls, thus suggesting a possible relationship between GH secretion and POAG.…”

“…A study by Greco and coworkers [13] showed that, after intravenous injection of arginine, patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) exhibited higher GH levels than healthy controls, thus suggesting a possible relationship between GH secretion and POAG. Further, other reports have demonstrated higher values of central corneal thickness (CCT) in acromegalic patients than in healthy subjects [12,14,15].…”

Chorio-retinal thickness measurements in patients with acromegaly

“…Increased corneal thickness, pigmentary degeneration of the retina, melanocytic tumours of the choroid, enlarged extraocular muscles, proptosis, and total ophthalmoplegia are some of the ocular manifestations of acromegaly. [6][7][8][9][10][11] On the other hand, there is a gap in the literature about the impact of acromegaly on the fovea, optic nerve head, and choroid.…”