Thyroid hormone diseases can cause different symptoms and signs in the body according to the hormone levels, particularly in the eyes. Corneal tissue can be affected by many biochemical and hormonal factors, and many ocular surface and systemic diseases can affect the cornea.Hyperthyroidism has been shown to cause symptoms such as conjunctival chemosis, proptosis, increased intraocular pressure, limitation to globe movements due to the restriction of extraocular muscles, increased orbital volume, increased risk of glaucoma with inflammation in the trabecular meshwork and exposure keratopathy, especially in Graves' disease. In the case of hypothyroidism, studies have shown fluid retention and edema in all body tissues, thereby resulting in increased thickness in the cornea, as well as a decrease in corneal hysteresis, which increases the risk of glaucoma. In this study, it is aimed to assess whether thyroid hormone changes affect those parameters by objectively measuring corneal changes via corneal topography, corneal densitometry and corneal aberrometry.
In this cross-sectional comparative study, it is aimed to investigate the topographic measurements,aberrometrics and densitometrics values of corneas in hypothyroid and hyperthyroid patients compared to healthy individuals. A number of 20 hypothyroid patients (group I), 20 hyperthyroid patients (group II), and 20 age-matched healthy controls (group III) have been recruited. The Pentacam high resolution imaging system is used to determine corneal topographic measurements,aberrometry and densitometry.