AIM: To find out the mean corneal spherical aberration and its changes with age in Kaifeng population.

METHODS: A total of 466 eyes of 427 Kaifeng subjects with cataract, whose age ranged from 52 to 75 years old, were divided into three groups according to the age. All the subjects were included in measuring K-readings of cornea, the corneal anterior and posterior surfaces of the spherical aberration and the total corneal spherical aberration using Pentacam(Oculus, Germany)at the 6-mm optical zone.

RESULTS:The mean corneal spherical aberration(CSA)of the whole groups was 0.339±0.153μm. Patients from 50 to 60 years old had CSA of 0.322±0.137μm, 0.326±0.157μm was the CSA of the patients from 60 to 70 years old, while those from 70 to 80 years old have a CSA of 0.401±0.182μm. The corneal K-readings had no correlation with the total corneal spherical aberration(r=0.034, P>0.05), anterior surfaces CSA, posterior surfaces and total CSA were positively correlated with age(r=0.253, 0.327, 0.233, all P<0.01).

CONCLUSION: CSA is varied among the population and CSA of elderly in Kaifeng area are slightly higher than white people, and positively correlated with age.