Objective:

Identify the morphological characteristics of the corneal epithelium, stroma and endothelium, as well as the cell density of the endothelium by means of confocal microscopy of the cornea in diabetic patients.

Methods:

A descriptive comparative study was conducted of 90 eyes: 60 from diabetic patients (30 type 1 and 30 type 2) and 30 from supposedly healthy patients, at Ramón Pando Ferrer Cuban Institute of Ophthalmology from January 2012 to January 2017.

Results:

A predominance was found of the male sex (66.7%) among patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 and of the female sex among patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (60%) and seemingly healthy patients (56.7%). The most common age ranges were 45-54 years for patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 (33.3%) and 55-66 years for patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (60%) and seemingly healthy patients (40%). Morphology of the corneal epithelium and stroma was normal in 86.7% and 87.3%, respectively. In type 1 diabetic patients there was a predominance of endothelial morphological alterations (73.3%), polymegethism and pleomorphism (73.3% and 56.7%, respectively) and the lowest cell density (2 222.76 cells /mm2).

Conclusions:

Absence of morphological alterations of the corneal epithelium and stroma, as well as the presence of polymegethism and pleomorphism were the most common findings.

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