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What Causes Corneal Thickness In Eyes?

Posted on Tue, 17 May 2016

Question: Greetings. I was told by a new ophthalmologist that my intraocular pressure was slightly elevated because of thickening of the cornea. I couldn't understand that because previous doctors never told me such a thing even though they had found the same slightly elevated pressure of 21-23.

This doctor says that not every doctor routinely checks the cornea , and pressure can even vary from room to room.

Is it truly the case that some doctors do not check for thickness routinely or repeatedly miscalculate the pressure? Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. BR Hudda (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No, all doctor dont measure corneal thickness routinely

Detailed Answer:
Hello Greetings
Welcome to health care magic and thanks for posting your question to us.

No, all doctors dont measure corneal thickness routinely, they just measure intraocular pressure and if it comes on higher side than doctors measure corneal thickness as well to find out the underlying cause for high intraocular pressure.

Corneal thickness can also lead to high IOP. In my opinion you should follow your ophthalmologist's advise to find out the underlying cause for high IOP which can be caused by number of conditions like hypertension, glaucoma and many other ophthalmic conditions.

Hope I could answer your question, please feel free to ask follow up question, if you have any more queries, I will gladly answer you.
Best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina

Follow up: Dr. Dr. BR Hudda (48 minutes later)

Thank you. However if this new ophthalmologist found thickness as the cause of elevated pressure, why wouldn't the other one have checked thickness when he found elevated pressure?! in the several years where he found elevated pressure of 21 to 23 he never mentioned the issue of thickness like this new doctor has found. I will probably go back to the first one again. But it is perplexing.

Answered by Dr. Dr. BR Hudda (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Corneal thickness may alter due to infection, edema or injury

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome again

Corneal thickness may increase or alter due to infection, edema or injury to cornea.

In my opinion you should follow your new ophthalmologist for further investigation to find out cause for high IOP as well as corneal thickness and accordingly take the treatment.

Hope this answers your question, please feel free to ask if you have any more queries, I will be happy to help you.

Best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee