Consequences of corneal ageing must be considered

[caption id="attachment_16638" align="alignleft" width="1024"] Antoine Rousseau[/caption] AGE-RELATED changes in the cornea and ocular surface tissues have a major effect on vision and should be taken into account in many aspects of everyday clinical practice, according to Antoine Rousseau MD. “Ageing affects us all but we don’t always consider the direct impact it has on the cornea and the wide-ranging therapeutic consequences relating to the process of ageing in the eye,” he told delegates attending the 10th EuCornea Congress in Paris. Ageing affects the structure and function of the eye in multiple ways, said Dr Rousseau. Corneal biomechanics, permeability and astigmatism, for example, are all impacted by the passage of time. The ageing eye is also more susceptible to the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation. “The first thing we can do as corneal specialists is to advise our patients to protect their eyes against UV radiation. Ageing should also be taken into account by glaucoma specialists because corneal biomechanics change with age and can have an impact on the intraocular pressure. It is not easy to correlate this in clinical practice but we should at least keep it in mind,” he said. Ageing also needs to be taken into account after cataract surgery, with particular regard to epithelial defects in patients with basement membrane dystrophy, said Dr Rousseau. Age-related changes in corneal astigmatism also have consequences for the predictability of toric IOLs and need to be considered in long-term planning for the patient.

Tags: cornea