Background: To quantify the corneal subbasal nerve density and the total number of nerve fibers in primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) and to evaluate their impact on corneal sensitivity.

Methods: Forty eyes of 26 PCG patients were compared with 40 eyes randomly selected from 40 non-glaucoma patients who populated the control group. Central corneal sensitivity (CCS) was assessed by means of Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometry. The mean subbasal nerve density and the total number of nerve fibers were quantified by laser-scanning confocal microscopy. Normality of data was assessed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov testing. Differences in parameters were assessed with Student's t-test, while correlations with CSS were assessed with Pearson's correlation.

Results: Significant differences were identified in the mean subbasal nerve density (2108 ± 692 μm in PCG, 2642 ± 484 μm in controls, P = 0.003) and in the total number of nerve fibers (12.3 ± 4.2 in PCG, 15.4 ± 3.1 in controls, P = 0.02). Both groups presented comparable mean CCS and tortuosity. Both groups presented strong correlations between CCS and mean nerve density (r = 0.57 in PCG, r = 0.67 in controls, all P < 0.05), and between CCS and total number of nerve fibers (r = 0.55 in PCG, r = 0.56 in controls, all P < 0.05).

Conclusion: PCG exerts significant changes in both the mean subbasal nerve density and the total number of nerve fibers. However, these changes do not appear to affect central corneal sensitivity.