Correlation of Anterior Corneal Higher-order Aberrations With Age: A Comprehensive Investigation

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of higher-order aberrations (HOAs) of the anterior cornea of eyes with cataract in a senior Chinese population and their correlations with age. Methods: Four hundred ten Chinese patients (male/female: 196/214; age: 67.9 +/- 10.0 years) with cataract were categorized into 5 groups according to their age. The HOAs in the central 6-mm zone of the cornea were measured with an iTrace wavefront analyzer. The correlations between age and total HOA, coma aberration, trefoil aberration, and spherical aberration were assessed using Spearman analysis. The differences in total HOA, coma aberration, trefoil aberration, spherical aberration among various age groups were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H test. Results: The corneal HOA exhibited a nonnormal distribution. A weak correlation was found between age and total HOA, coma aberration (Z(3)(+/- 1)), trefoil aberration (Z(3)(+/- 3)) (P < 0.001 for all). No correlation was found between age and spherical aberration (Z(4)(0)). Differences in the root mean square of the total HOA, Z(3)(+/- 1), and Z(3)(+/- 3) were found among various age groups (P < 0.05). No difference was found in the root mean square of Z(4)(0), spherical diopter, corneal curvature, corneal astigmatism, corneal effective refractive power, corneal asphericity Q value and corneal central power across the groups. Conclusions: The distribution of anterior corneal HOAs of eyes with cataract in a senior Chinese population is of the nonnormal type. The total HOA, Z(3)(+/- 1), and Z(3)(+/- 3) are correlated to age, unlike Z(4)(0) of the anterior cornea.