Purpose: The prevalence of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) in Europe and the United States is reported to be approximately 4% to 11%. Since 2005, we have conducted the Kyoto Glaucoma Cohort Study (KGC), a genomic study on glaucoma, and collected data on volunteer control subjects without glaucoma. In the present article, we investigated the percentage of corneal endothelial disorders in those volunteer control subjects and examined the prevalence of FECD.
Subjects and methods: Of the 2,480 volunteer subjects who participated in the KGC between March 2005 and March 2020, this study involved 1,250 subjects aged ≥40 years [364 men, 886 women; age: 66.5±8.3 years (mean±SD) ] who provided consent for this study and underwent specular microscopy imaging (TOMEY EM-3000™). Corneal endothelial cells (CECs) in the central corneal region of the right eye were imaged for screening, and those with corneal guttae were selected as cases with suspected FECD in the primary screening. Three cornea specialists performed secondary screening to classify the eyes as abnormal CECs, corneal guttae, and confluent corneal guttae.
Results: Of the 1,250 eyes, the primary screening detected corneal guttae in 55 (4.4%) eyes, of which 11 (0.9%) were classified as abnormal CECs, 32 (2.5%) as corneal guttae, and 12 (1.0%) as confluent corneal guttae. Corneal edema did not develop in cases with FECD. Furthermore, no subject experienced posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy or posterior corneal vesicle.
Conclusion: The prevalence of FECD in the KGC was 3.5%.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 127: 791-796,2023.