The Impact Of The Upper Eyelid’S Position On Epithelial Thickness Profile And Corneal Topography

To evaluate the impact of the position of the upper eyelid on the corneal epithelial thickness, anterior elevation map, and corneal aberrations in patients with unimpaired function of the eyelids.

Department of Ophthalmology, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland

This prospective study comprised 61 right eyes. High positioned eyelid group (HP) included 30 eyes with mean upper eyelid margin position at primary gaze  3.45±0.45 mm above the corneal apex, whereas low positioned eyelid group (LP) comprised 31 eyes for which the respective value was 4.56±0.36 mm. Anterior elevation map, corneal aberrations and epithelial thickness profile were performed with eyes wide opened using MS-39 corneal tomograph (CSO, Italy). The analysis was also performed in measurement points 0.3 mm above and below the eyelid margin in two study groups.

In the LP group significantly thinner epithelium 4.5 mm above the center of the was observed (p=0.01). Significantly higher anterior elevation and thicker epithelium of the cornea were observed at the measurement point 0.3 mm above the upper eyelid’s margin in the HP group (p<0.01). A negative correlation between the height of the upper eyelid and spherical aberration was noticed (r=-0.26, p<0.05).

The position of the upper eyelid has an impact on the epithelial thickness map, anterior elevation map, and corneal spherical aberrations in patients with the unimpaired function of the eyelids. Low-positioned eyelids compress the corneal epithelium in the upper part of the cornea more, affecting its anterior surface.