Open AccessPhysiological changes in retinal layers thicknesses measured with swept source optical coherence tomography
Author(s) -
Elisa Viladés,
Amaya Pérez-del Palomar,
José Cegoñino,
J. Obís,
María Satué,
Elvira Orduna,
Luis Pablo Júlvez,
M. Ciprés,
Elena GarcíaMartín
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0240441
Subject(s) - retinal , choroid , ophthalmology , nerve fiber layer , quadrant (abdomen) , optical coherence tomography , medicine , retina , ganglion cell layer , anatomy , surgery , biology , neuroscience
Purpose To evaluate the physiological changes related with age of all retinal layers thickness measurements in macular and peripapillary areas in healthy eyes. Methods Wide protocol scan (with a field of view of 12x9 cm) from Triton SS-OCT instrument (Topcon Corporation, Japan) was performed 463 heathy eyes from 463 healthy controls. This protocol allows to measure the thickness of the following layers: Retina, Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), Ganglion cell layer (GCL +), GCL++ and choroid. In those layers, mean thickness was compared in four groups of ages: Group 1 (71 healthy subjects aged between 20 and 34 years); Group 2 (65 individuals aged 35–49 years), Group 3 (230 healthy controls aged 50–64 years) and Group 4 (97 healthy subjects aged 65–79 years). Results The most significant thinning of all retinal layers occurs particularly in the transition from group 2 to group 3, especially in temporal superior quadrant at RNFL, GCL++ and retinal layers (p≤0.001), and temporal superior, temporal inferior, and temporal half in choroid layer (p<0.001). Curiously group 2 when compared with group 1 presents a significant thickening of RNFL in temporal superior quadrant (p = 0.001), inferior (p<0.001) and temporal (p = 0.001) halves, and also in nasal half in choroid layer (p = 0.001). Conclusions Excepting the RNFL, which shows a thickening until the third decade of life, the rest of the layers seem to have a physiological progressive thinning.