[Central thickness of the cornea in ocular hypertension and open-angle glaucoma].

PURPOSES: To assess the necessity for corneal pachimetry in the primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) diagnosis and follow-up. To establish a correlation between central corneal thickness (CCT) and glaucoma progression. METHOD: Retrospective study that included 199 eyes (108 patients) with POAG, normal tension glaucoma, OHT or glaucoma suspects. The evaluation included the intraocular pressure, CCT, C/D ratio and visual field (standard automated perimetry). For the patients that had performed at least 3 visual fields we have searched the perimetric progression of glaucoma and we have noted the mean lOP throughout the follow-up period. RESULTS: The mean CCT was higher in OHT (559.28 +/- 26.35 m) than in POAG (542.83 +/-31.07 microm). In the 10 cases of newly diagnosed OHT the CCT has influenced the diagnosis (the OHT with a high risk of progression to glaucoma was assigned to antiglaucoma treatment). 57 eyes had at least 3 visual fields. The Kaplan-Meyer survival analysis showed that the eyes with CCT 520 m had significantly earlier glaucoma progression ( the mean IOP was 17.59 +/- 2.33 mmHg, compared to 18.28 +/- 1.55 mmHg in the eyes with CCT> 520 m, p = 0.36). CONCLUSIONS: The central corneal thickness is significantly higher in eyes with ocular hypertension than in those with POAG. In eyes with thin cornea the glaucoma progression tends to appear earlier, which suggests a need for lower target IOP in these cases.