Abstract

Endothelial dysfunction and damage underlie cerebrovascular disease and ischemic stroke. We undertook corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) to quantify corneal endothelial cell and nerve morphology in 146 patients with an acute ischemic stroke and 18 age-matched healthy control participants. Corneal endothelial cell density was lower (P < 0.001) and endothelial cell area (P < 0.001) and perimeter (P < 0.001) were higher, whilst corneal nerve fibre density (P < 0.001), corneal nerve branch density (P < 0.001) and corneal nerve fibre length (P = 0.001) were lower in patients with acute ischemic stroke compared to controls. Corneal endothelial cell density, cell area and cell perimeter correlated with corneal nerve fiber density (P = 0.033, P = 0.014, P = 0.011) and length (P = 0.017, P = 0.013, P = 0.008), respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant independent association between corneal endothelial cell density, area and perimeter with acute ischemic stroke and triglycerides. CCM is a rapid non-invasive ophthalmic imaging technique, which could be used to identify patients at risk of acute ischemic stroke.

Details

Title
Corneal Confocal Microscopy detects a Reduction in Corneal Endothelial Cells and Nerve Fibres in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke
Author
Khan, Adnan 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Saadat Kamran 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Akhtar, Naveed 2 ; Ponirakis, Georgios 1 ; Al-Muhannadi, Hamad 1 ; Petropoulos, Ioannis N 1 ; Al-Fahdawi, Shumoos 3 ; Qahwaji, Rami 3 ; Faheem Sartaj 2 ; Babu, Blessy 2 ; Wadiwala, Muhammad Faisal 2 ; Shuaib, Ashfaq 4 ; Malik, Rayaz A 1 

1  Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Doha, Qatar 
2  Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurosciences, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 
3  School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK 
4  Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurosciences, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 
Pages
1-8
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Nov 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35298-3
ProQuest document ID
2138058080
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.