AIM: To compare the difference of corneal curvature, astigmatism, central corneal thickness and anterior chamber depth between the Pentacam anterior segment analyzer and anterior segment optical coherence tomography(AS-OCT)in young myopic preoperative and senile cataract patients.

METHODS: Prospective clinical study.Totally 64 preoperative examinations(124 eyes)and 61 senile cataract patients(85 eyes)were selected. Pentacam and AS-OCT were used to measure the people's parameters of the ophthalmic anterior segment. Paired sample t-test was used to compare the differences of the two devices' measurement results of the two groups. The correlation of the obtained data was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. The consistency of the measurement results was analyzed by Bland-Altman plot analysis.

RESULTS: There were significant differences in measuring steep Keratometry(Ks), flat Keratometry(Kf)and mean Keratometry(Km)between the two devices of myopia(P<0.001), but there was no statistically significant difference in the cataract group(P>0.05). The astigmatic parameters J₀, central corneal thickness(CCT), and anterior chamber depth(ACD)measured by the devices and there were statistically significant differences between the two devices(P<0.05)while there was no significant difference in the measured astigmatic parameters J₄₅(P>0.05). The results of Ks, Kf, Km, J₀, J₄₅, CCT and ACD measured by the two devices in both groups were linearly related(P<0.001). The Bland-Altman plot analyses showed that the two devices had comparable results for J₀, J₄₅, CCT and ACD. The consistency of Ks, Kf and Km measured by the myopia group was good, while the consistency of Ks, Kf and Km measured by the cataract group was poor.

CONCLUSION: Pentacam and AS-OCT measurements of the ophthalmic anterior segment are consistent with astigmatic parameters, CCT and ACD, and can be used interchangeably. The consistency of Ks, Kf and Km is affected by age related factors, and Pentacam is preferred.