Relationship between anterior chamber depth, refractive state, corneal diameter, and axial length

PURPOSE: Phakic intraocular lenses are being used increasingly to correct refractive errors. We studied the relationship between anterior chamber depth, refractive state of the eye, spherical equivalent refraction, axial length of the globe, corneal diameter, and keratometry. METHODS: Two hundred eleven eyes of 211 patients were enrolled. All eyes underwent the same protocol with a complete ocular examination that included slit-lamp microscopy, intraocular pressure, objective and subjective refraction, calculation of the spherical equivalent refraction, corneal pachymetry, anterior chamber depth, axial length of the globe, and keratometry. All results were analyzed statistically using SPSS statistics software. Correlations between different parameters were studied using the Pearson correlation test. RESULTS: The anterior chamber depth was found to correlate significantly with both the average corneal diameter and the axial length of the globe (0.744, 0.531, P < .01) and was also found to correlate through an inverse relation with both age and spherical equivalent refraction (-0.391, -0.623, P < .01). Corneal thickness and keratometric power did not correlate with the anterior chamber depth. CONCLUSION: Most parameters (axial length, corneal diameter, spherical equivalent refraction, patient age) affected anterior chamber depth and should be considered carefully when planning refractive procedures that employ phakic intraocular lenses.