Corneal endothelial cell density and cardiovascular mortality

Abstract

Based on embryological commonalities between eye and heart development, a global, country-specific meta-analysis of normal, adult corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) was performed and correlated against mortality rates secondary to diseases affecting cardiac neural crest cell (CNCC)-derived cardiovascular structures. A country-specific survey of ECD was performed by searching PubMed for studies reporting ECD datasets from normal adults. All eligible datasets were assigned a country of origin. Country-specific weighted mean ECD were calculated based on dataset n. Country-specific disease mortality rates were obtained from the World Health Organization. The correlations between weighted mean ECD and mortality rates secondary to diseases affecting CNCC-derived cardiovascular structures were calculated. As controls, correlations between ECD and noncardiovascular disease mortality were examined. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) corresponding to P-value < 0.05 were considered significant. Three hundred ninety-two datasets (39,762 eyes) from 267 source-studies were assigned to 42 countries. Significant correlations were found between ECD and mortality due to coronary heart disease (r = -0.39, P = 0.011), hypertension (r = -0.33, P = 0.033), and all-cause cardiac disease (r = -0.36, P = 0.019). No significant correlations were found between ECD and mortality secondary to the control conditions: inflammatory heart disease (mesoderm-derived tissues) (r = -0.12, P = 0.45), diabetes (r = -0.13, P = 0.41), lung disease (r = -0.21, P = 0.18), liver disease (r = -0.13, P = 0.41), renal disease (r = -0.10, P = 0.53), lung cancer (r = 0.02, P = 0.90), pancreatic cancer (r = 0.24, P = 0.13), malnutrition (r = -0.07, P = 0.66), or all-cause mortality (r = 0.04, P = 0.81). Negative correlations exist between ECD and mortality due to coronary artery disease and hypertension. On a population-based level, adult ECD is correlated to mortality from certain cardiovascular diseases. Clin. Anat. 31:927-936, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Risk factors for fluctuations in corneal endothelial cell density (Review)

“…Khan et al ( 30 ) also demonstrated a reduction in the corneal ECD and increases in endothelial cell size in patients after acute ischemic stroke. In 2018, Scherer ( 31 ) conducted a global survey and correlative meta-analysis, in which 392 datasets (39,762 eyes) from 267 source studies were assigned to 42 countries. The results of this previous study revealed negative associations between ECD and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases (coronary artery disease and hypertension) on a population-based level ( 31 ).…”

Pharmaceutical Lemons: Innovation and Regulation in the Drug Industry

“…16 More recently there has again been a downturn. 166 Overall, the average number of approved NCEs per year in the 1970-2005 period was 21.4 "with a statistically significant upward trend . 67 Prudence counsels against immediately concluding from this observation that the transformation of the pharmaceutical industry's dismal state in the nineteenth century to its current nature is attributable to the anti-lemon role of drug regulation.…”

Evaluation of the corneal endothelium by specular microscopy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…31 Scherer et al reported that in coronary artery disease, CD and mortality are inversely proportional. 32 In our study, when we looked at the correlation of SM findings with arterial oxygen level, FEV1 (%) and FEV1 (L), we found that CD and HEX were also correlated with these three parameters. However, we could not detect such a correlation in CT and CV.…”