Investigating ocular dimensions in African Americans with long anterior zonules.

Purpose: To investigate ocular dimensions in African Americans with the long anterior zonule (LAZ) trait.

Methods: A total of 61 African American LAZ subjects and 61 age-matched, race-matched, and sex-matched controls were compared with respect to central corneal thickness, central corneal curvature, axial length (AL), and subjective refraction.

Results: LAZ right eyes had a mean SR=+1.75±1.82 D and were 1.58 D (95% confidence interval, 0.83-2.31 D, P<0.0001) more hyperopic on average when compared with the control right eyes. LAZ right eyes also had an AL that was 0.69 mm (95% confidence interval, 0.34-1.04 mm, P<0.001) shorter on average than control right eyes. Similar results were found for left eyes. No differences were found with respect to central corneal curvature and central corneal thickness (P>0.05).

Conclusions: In this data set, LAZ eyes tended to be more hyperopic and had ALs that were shorter than control eyes, characteristics that are consistent with elevated risk for angle-closure glaucoma.