Background: the new digital Diaton tonometer measures intraocular pressure through the eyelid without corneal contact. Perkins is a hand-held version of the original, Goldmann tonometer, useful in children and patients unable to sit. Purpose: to compare intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained with the Diaton transpalpebral tonometer (DT), and Perkins applanation tonometer (PT) in children. Method: this cross sectional study on 50 eyes selected randomly from the children who attended Eye Hospital Hochiminh city. The intraocular pressure of each eye was measured with DT and PT within 5 minutes in random order. Results: the average IOP reading was 10.52 of: 5.96 mmHg for DT, and 11.72 + or - 5.54 mmHg for PT. The mean differences between DT and PT was -1.20 + or - 1.96 mmHg (p 0.05, N 0.05) in chidren older than 4 years old. There were very high correlation between IOP readings obtained using DT and PT (r = 0.94
p 0.001). Compared with PT 84.0 percent of the IOP readings measured by DT were in an interval of + or - 3 mmHg. Conclusions: the eyelid tonometer DT may be used in routine eye exams and in following up in children especially with children older than 4 years old and when applanation tonometry is not applicable.