Comparison in conjunctival-Tenon's capsule thickness, anterior scleral thickness and ciliary muscle dimensions between Caucasians and Hispanic by optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To investigate the differences in the dimensions of the anterior ocular segment, and specifically in conjunctival-Tenon's capsule thickness (CTT), anterior scleral thickness (AST) and ciliary muscle thickness (CMT), between Caucasian and Hispanic subjects using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).

Methods: Cross-sectional study including 53 Hispanic and 60 Caucasian healthy participants, matched by age, sex and refractive error, who underwent a complete ophthalmological examination. CTT, AST and CMT were manually measured in the temporal and nasal quadrants at 0, 1, 2 and 3 mm from the scleral spur using SS-OCT.

Results: Mean age and refractive error were 38.7 ± 12.3 years and -1.05 ± 2.6 diopters, and 41.8 ± 11.7 years and -0.50 ± 2.6 diopters for the Hispanic and Caucasians, respectively (p = 0.165 and p = 0.244). The CTT was increased in the temporal quadrant in the Hispanic group in the three studied regions (CTT1, CTT2 and CTT3; being the means 223.0 ± 68.4, 215.3 ± 66.4 and 203.8 ± 67.1 µm versus 190.8 ± 51.0, 189.4 ± 53.2 and 187.4 ± 55.3 µm respectively; p < 0.001). Larger AST values were observed in the temporal quadrant in the Hispanic group (AST2: 559.8 ± 80.8 µm and AST3: 591.6 ± 83.0 µm) compared to the Caucasian group (520.7 ± 50.1 and 558.9 ± 54.7 respectively; p ≤ 0.022). No differences were observed in the nasal quadrant for CTT, AST1 and AST3 (p ≥ 0.076). No differences emerged in the CM dimensions (p ≥ 0.055).

Conclusion: CTT and AST measurements were thicker in the temporal quadrant of Hispanic patients compared to Caucasians. This could have implications for the pathogenesis of different ocular diseases.