Objective: To evaluate the central corneal thickness (CCT) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and healty control subjects.

Materials and Methods: A hundred eyes of fifty patients with DM followed up in our clinic were investigated in the study. The diabetics were divided into two groups as having diabetic retinopathy (group 1, 19 patients) and not (group 2,31 patients), and a hundred eyes of 50 non-diabetic, healty subjects were classified as control group (group 3). All the patients SKK was measured via ultrasonic pachymeter (Optopol, Echoson Demsin M, Poland) under topical anesthesia.

Results: The mean CCT was found as 548.94±37.13 µm in patients with DM; 533.45±43.38 µm in healty control group. The difference between diabetic patients and healty subjects was statistically significiant (p < 0.05). The mean CCT in patients with diabetic retinopathy (group 1) was 558.39±29.8 µm, and in non-diabetic retinopathy group (group 2), the mean CCT was found 543.14±40.1 µm. The difference between group 1 and 2 was statistically significiant (p<0.05).

Conclusion: We found that diabetic patients had an increased central corneal thickness when compared with healty control subjects. Furthermore, retinopathy increases the relevance of thicker cornea in diabetic patients.