A cross sectional study based on 243 subjects with an age range of 20-63 years, was conducted to assess the prevalence of
corneal arcus and the association between
corneal arcus and
dyslipidemia which is a
coronary heart disease risk factor. The presence of
corneal arcus was determined by hand-held slitlamp, serum
lipids and serum plasma
glucose collected on the same day as
corneal arcus detection. Total
cholesterol (CHOL),
triglyceride (TG) and
high density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured by enzymatic procedure, and
low density lipoprotein (
LDL) was estimated by the Friedewald formula. The prevalence of
corneal arcus was divided into 3 age groups, 20-29 years (0%), 30-49 years (male 41.5%, female 26.13%) and 50-69 years (male 86.2%, female 59.1%) In the 30-49 year, female group, those with
corneal arcus had higher serum
LDL and total
cholesterol concentration than those without
corneal arcus. The mean difference of
LDL was 22.21 mg/dl (p=0.001) and total
cholesterol was 30.95 mg/dl (p=0.000). In the 30-49 year, male group people with
corneal arcus had a lower serum HDL concentration than those without
corneal arcus and the mean difference of the HDL was 8.6 mg/dl (p=0.014). There was no difference for
corneal arcus and serum
lipid in the 50-69 years group in both sexes. No association between
corneal arcus and fasting plasma
glucose was found in all ages and both sexes. It is concluded that while
corneal arcus is primarily an aged-related change, if present in people under 50 years it should be considered for
dyslipidemia which is one of the risk factors for
coronary heart disease.