Corneal Hormesis At Altitude. Normal Cornea Vs Corneal Changes Vs Keratoconus.
Published 2026 - 44th Congress of the ESCRS
Reference: POCOR377 | Type: Poster | DOI: 10.82333/n1ry-2t58
Authors: Dr Justo Luís Noriega Martínez* 1 , Dr Raúl Humberto Plasencia Salini 2 , Dr Jhony Sandro Castañeda Rojas 3 , Dr Alexeide de la C. Castillo Pérez 4
1Córnea,Cornea-CuanticaYJC,Lima,Peru;Oftalmología,Instituto Superior de Ciencias Médicas Santiago de Cuba,Santiago de Cuba,Cuba, 2Oftalmología,Universidad de San Martin de Porres,Lima,Peru;Córnea,CorneaClinic,Trujillo,Peru, 3Oftalmología,Universidad de San Martin de Porres,Lima,Peru;Glaucoma,Clínica de Ojos Ñahui,Lima,Peru, 4Oftalmología,Instituto Superior de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana,La Habana,Cuba;Córnea,Instituto Cubano de Oftalmología "Ramón Pando Ferrer",La Habana,Cuba
Purpose
To evaluate anatomical–biochemical and physiological corneal changes in patients exposed to high altitude.
Setting
This is a case series research in patients exposed to high altitude (2500–5000 meters above sea level), divided into three groups: acute hypobaric hypoxia (exposed for less than 15 days, mountaineers/tourists who go up and down), intermittent chronic hypoxia or hypobaria (people who live at sea level and work at high altitude for periods between 15 days to 6 months, repeatedly going up and down), and finally, chronic adapted hypobaric hypoxia (inhabitants born at high altitude).
Methods
Exploratory–descriptive–correlational–longitudinal–prospective study. General aspects of the study. Temporal and geographic context. General study design
Results
Our study group is made up of patients who live at altitudes between 2500 – 5000 meters above sea level (masl), high myopic astigmatism, both refractive and tomographic, it is the most common, corneal biomechanical changes are significantly evidente, pachymetry values range between 504µm/522µm, tomographic astigmatism ranges from -4.5 to -6.0 D as does refractive astigmatism, the K values are 39.0D/45.0D. Both sexes are equally affected, the patients who live above 4,100 masl are the most affected.
Conclusions
Although the results obtained from biomechanical studies of the cornea carried out in our study population indicate that 96% fall within the different degrees of keratoconus, defined for population groups living at sea level, we believe that this is a finding related to corneal hormesis, and not due to a high incidence of keratoconus itself, since there are no actual corneal biomechanical studies in a population exposed to low partial oxygen pressure (PbO2), that define the characteristics of a normal cornea compared to a cornea with ectatic changes versus a cornea with keratoconus, for now we will call these findings changes in corneal architecture