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Relationship between retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and the duration and severity of parkinson disease
Author(s) -
JIMENEZ DEL RIO B,
ASCASO F,
CRISTOBAL JA,
PEREZ D,
CABEZON L,
IBANEZ J,
DEL BUEY MA,
LOPEZ DEL VAL J
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2012.t125.x
Subject(s) - nerve fiber layer , medicine , ophthalmology , retinal , optical coherence tomography , parkinson's disease , disease
Purpose To determine in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) the correlation between peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and macular thickness and volume, with the duration and severity of the neurological disorder. Methods 102 eyes corresponding to patients affected by PD were compared with 97 eyes of age‐matched controls. In all individuals peripapillary RNFL thickness, macular thickness and volume were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results We found statistically significant differences in all parameters of peripapillary RNFL thickness between Parkinson patients and controls. In all quadrants RNFL thickness was significantly lower in PD patients (p = 0.017 in temporal RNFL and p <0.001 in the other quadrants). Nevertheless, macular thickness and volume did not reveal any statistically significant reduction in PD patients when compared with controls (p>0.05). Furthermore, we found a significant inverse correlation between disease duration (years) and disease severity measured by Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale and overall peripapillary RNFL thickness (p=0.002 and p <0.001, respectively), indicating that the more years of illness or greater UPDRS score, the lower peripapillary RNFL thickness. Conclusion PD patients showed a statistically significant reduction in peripapillary RNFL thickness evaluated by OCT in terms of evolution and severity of PD. That means that the further evolution of PD, the lower average peripapillary RNFL thickness. Our results suggest that RNFL thickness measured by OCT might be used as a biomarker of PD severity progression or even as an indicator of good response to long‐term treatment.