Original article
Anterior Chamber Depth and Chamber Angle and Their Associations with Ocular and General Parameters: The Beijing Eye Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2008.01.004Get rights and content

Purpose

To investigate the normative data of anterior chamber depth (ACD) and angle width and their associations in Chinese adults.

Design

Population-based study.

Methods

The Beijing Eye Study 2006 included 3,251 subjects (73.3%) (aged 45+ years) out of 4,439 subjects who participated in the 2001 survey and who returned for reexamination. The subjects underwent an ophthalmologic examination including measurement of the anterior chamber dimensions by slit-lamp-based optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Results

Out of the 3,251 subjects, OCT measurements were available for 2,985 subjects (91.8%). Mean ACD measured 2.42 ± 0.34 mm and the mean anterior chamber angle (ACA) was 38.3 ± 16.3 degrees. In multivariate analysis, a shallow chamber depth was significantly associated with age (P < .001), hyperopic refractive error (P < .001), female gender (P < .001), short body stature (P = .003), nuclear cataract (P = .03), central corneal thickness [CCT] (P < .001), large optic disk (P < .001), and presence of chronic angle-closure glaucoma (P < .001). Correspondingly, a narrow ACA was associated with age (P < .001), female gender (P < .001), hyperopia (P < .001), nuclear cataract (P < .001), short body stature (P = .001), large optic disk (P < .001), and angle-closure glaucoma (P < .001). Chamber depth and angle width were not associated with presence of age-related maculopathy and diabetic retinopathy.

Conclusions

A shallow anterior chamber and a narrow chamber angle in Chinese adults are associated with age, female gender, hyperopia, nuclear cataract, small optic disk, short body stature, CCT, and chronic angle-closure glaucoma. These data may be helpful to explain anatomic relationships of the anterior segment of the eye, and to elucidate risk factors of angle-closure glaucoma.

Section snippets

Methods

The Beijing Eye Study is a population-based cross-sectional study in Northern China. It was carried out in four communities in the urban district of Haidian in the North of Central Beijing and in three communities in the village area of Yufa of the Daxing District South of Beijing. The study has been described in detail recently.6, 7 At the time of the first survey in the year 2001, the seven communities had a total population of 5,324 individuals aged 40 years or older. In total, 4,439

Results

Out of the 3,251 subjects of the Beijing Eye Study 2006, OCT measurements of the ACD and chamber angle were available for 2,985 subjects (91.8%) (Table 1). Mean age was 60.2 ± 10.0 years (median, 60 years; range, 45 to 89 years), mean refractive error was –0.32 ± 2.17 diopters (D).

Including all participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2001 (n = 4,439) and comparing the subjects with OCT measurements (n = 2,985) with the subjects without OCT measurements (n = 1,454) showed that the group without

Discussion

The present population-based study on mainland Chinese living in the greater Beijing area suggest that a shallow ACD is associated with higher age, hyperopic refractive error, female gender, short body stature, small optic disk, presence of arterial hypertension, and thicker central cornea (Table 4). Correspondingly, the ACA became narrower with increasing age, hyperopic refractive error, female gender, shorter body height, small optic disk, nuclear cataract, and presence of chronic

Professor Liang Xu is a Director at the Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology (WHO Collaborating Center for Prevention of Blindness), the Vice President of the Beijing Tongren Hospital, a member of the standing committee of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society, and Editor-In-Chief of Ophthalmology in China. Dr Xu's main research interests are glaucoma and epidemiology (Principal Investigator, Beijing Eye Study). Dr Xu received the Golden Key Medal of the Sino-American Ophthalmologic Society and

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Professor Liang Xu is a Director at the Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology (WHO Collaborating Center for Prevention of Blindness), the Vice President of the Beijing Tongren Hospital, a member of the standing committee of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society, and Editor-In-Chief of Ophthalmology in China. Dr Xu's main research interests are glaucoma and epidemiology (Principal Investigator, Beijing Eye Study). Dr Xu received the Golden Key Medal of the Sino-American Ophthalmologic Society and the Outstanding Service in Prevention of Blindness Award by APAO congress.

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