Comparison of Anterior Chamber Depth between Normal and Keratoconic Eyes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE: To review the published data about changes in the anterior chamber depth (ACD) in keratoconus patients. METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies, we reviewed the available and relevant literature on anterior segment changes in keratoconic eyes, with a special focus on the ACD, an effective factor in many surgical methods. Articles published up to December 2017 were identified in the following data sources: PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, ISI, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Databases were comprehensively searched using the key words “Anterior Chamber Depth AND Anterior segment AND Keratoconus”. RESULTS: A total of 496 studies including these key words were detected. Four hundred fifty-three studies were excluded, and overall 16 studies which precisely described the change in ACD were included in the literature review. The results show that with respect to the applied device, there was a statistically significant difference in ACD between keratoconic eyes and normal eyes except for Galilei analyzer. CONCLUSION: Summarizing the results of studies, this review revealed that ACD is significantly deeper in keratoconic eyes as compared with normal eyes, which could be explained by the steeper corneal curvature.