THE EFFECTS OF SMOKING ON CORNEAL ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

Dr. Suliman Mohamed Masuod and Almahdi Abdulaziz Abdullah Mohammed*

ABSTRACT

Background: smoking is a known contributor to various ocular conditions, such as cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal vascular occlusion, and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy. Chronic smoking affects every tissue in the eye and has been shown to decrease antioxidants and increase free radicals in the blood, ocular tissues, and aqueous humour. Aim: the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronic smoking on corneal endothelial cells and central corneal thickness. Methods: this observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 patients attending the out-patients department at Benghazi Ophthalmology Teaching Hospital, from December 2023 to April 2024. 80 patients were smokers and 80 were non-smokers and were aged between 20 and 70 years and they underwent a complete ophthalmological examination and visual acuity was determined. Results: there was no statistically significant difference between smokers and non-smokers group regarding age. The mean duration of smoking was .The mean cell density was 2311(311) cell/mm2 for the smoker and 2697 (33) cell/mm2 for the non-smoker and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). The difference in the average cell size was also statistically significant (p< 0.0001) between the smoker and non-smoker [419 (88) um2 and 359 (33) um2 respectively]. Among the smoker, there was non-significant association between the type of smoking (cigarette, shisha or combined) and corneal measures. Conclusion: chronic smoker have a significantly lower the cell density and cell hexagonality values but a larger average cell size than non-smokers. Preoperative corneal examination should be performed more carefully among smokers while planning intraocular surgeries such as cataract surgery, refractive surgery and keratoplasty.

Keywords: Cigarette smoking, ocular surface, central corneal thickness, endothelial cells.