Measurement of central corneal thickness and precorneal tear film thickness of rabbits using the Scheimpflug system

Abstract

AIM: To measure central corneal thickness (CCT) and pre-corneal tear film thickness using the Galilei dual-Scheimpflug analyzer (GSA) in New Zealand White rabbits. METHODS: Ten normal New Zealand White rabbits (20 eyes) were included in this study. With the assistance of 0.1% fluorescein, the pre-corneal tear film can be well visualized. Both eyes of each rabbit were scanned once with the GSA pre- and post-instillation of 1μL 0.1% fluorescein. The difference between the two measurements of CCT (4-mm diameter) was recorded as the pachymetric values of the central tear film. RESULTS: The CCT of pre- and post-instillation was 388.8±9.5μm and 407.0±10.5μm, respectively. After a paired t-test analysis, the central pre-corneal tear film thickness of 4mm diameter was 18.2±5.31μm with a 95% confidence interval of (15.7, 20.6)μm (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: GSA can be used to measure CCT and analyze central tear film thickness of rabbits with the help of fluorescein. Copyright International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.