Changes of outer retinal thickness with increasing age in normal eyes / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

·AIM: To comprehensively investigate the relationship between outer retinal layer thickness and age in normal eyes. ·METHODS: One hundred normal eyes of 100 subjects who underwent spectral - domain optical coherence tomography ( SD - OCT ) were included in this retrospective study. The distances between the external limiting membrane ( ELM ) line and the photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment ( IS/OS ) line ( ELM-IS/OS), the IS/OS line and the cone outer segment tips (COST) line ( IS/OS-COST), the COST line and the retinal pigment epithelium ( RPE) complex ( COST-RPE) and the full retinal thickness ( RT) were measured at the fovea and on four quarters. The relationship between thickness and age or sex was then analysed. ·RESULTS: A thinner RT was observed in women in a multiple regression analysis ( men: 234. 47 ± 16. 79 μ m;women: 223. 13±15. 43 μ m). The RT on the nasal quarter and the ELM-IS/OS thickness at the fovea and on the four quarters were significantly and negatively correlated with age. The IS/OS-COST and COST-RPE thicknesses at the fovea and on the four quarters were not significantly correlated with age or sex, respectively. The RT at the fovea was significantly thinner than on the four quarters. The ELM - IS/OS, IS/OS - COST and COST - RPE thicknesses at the fovea were significantly thicker than on the four quarters. ·CONCLUSION: In normal eyes, the RT thickness on the nasal quarter and the ELM - IS/OS thickness were significantly and negatively correlated with age. The IS/OS - COST and COST - RPE thicknesses were not significantly correlated with age or sex.

Change of Outer Retinal Thickness in Fellow Eyes of Patients with Unilateral Age-related Macular Degeneration

PURPOSE: To compare the outer retinal thickness in normal fellow eyes of patients with unilateral age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and normal control eyes. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 60 patients with unilateral exudative AMD including polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and 60 normal controls. Spectralis optical coherence tomography was performed in the normal fellow eyes of patients with unilateral AMD and in the normal group. The thicknesses between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) line and the cone outer segment tips (COST) line, between the COST line and the photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) line, and between the IS/OS line and the external limiting membrane (ELM) line were measured at the fovea in both groups. RESULTS: The thickness between the RPE and COST lines was 32.4 ± 3.0 µm in normal fellow eyes of patients with unilateral AMD and 35.3 ± 3.5 µm in the normal group (p < 0.001). Total retinal thickness, thicknesses between the COST and the IS/OS lines and the IS/OS and the ELM lines in fellow eyes were not significantly different from those of normal eyes (p = 0.126, 0.615, 0.874). There was no significant difference in total retinal thickness or each outer retinal thickness measured in normal fellow eyes between patients with neovascular AMD and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. CONCLUSIONS: The thickness between the RPE and the COST lines was thinner in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral AMD than in the normal eyes. We suggest that less thickness between the RPE and COST lines might indicate a greater risk of AMD.

Relationship between the Lamina Cribrosa, Outer Retina, and Choroidal Thickness as Assessed Using Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

PURPOSE: To evaluate the characteristics and relationship between peripapillary choroidal thickness (pCT), lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT), and peripapillary outer retinal layer thickness (pORT) as determined using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) enhanced depth imaging (EDI). METHODS: In total, 255 participants were included (87 healthy subjects, 87 glaucoma suspects (GS), and 81 glaucoma cases). The pORT, defined as the thickness between the posterior outer plexiform layer and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) interface, and the pCT, between the outer margin of the RPE and the choroidal-scleral interface, were manually measured using EDI scanning of the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). LCT was determined by EDI scanning of the optic nerve head (ONH). Baseline characteristics, including axial length (AXL) and the SD-OCT measurements of the participants, were compared among the three groups. The correlation between putative factors and pCT was determined using univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: In all three groups, both pORT and pCT were thinnest in the inferior area among the four quadrants. In the healthy group, the mean peripapillary RNFL, pORT, and LCT were significantly greater in comparison with those of the GS and glaucoma groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.038, and p < 0.001, respectively). The pCT demonstrated no significant differences among the three groups (p = 0.083). Only age and AXL were associated with pCT by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The pCT is substantially thinner in the inferior area of the ONH. In addition, the pCT demonstrates the strongest correlation with age and AXL, but was not associated with glaucoma or LCT.