Purpose
To assess the macular thickness using high-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with active unilateral acute anterior uveitis (UAAU) and to compare with their contralateral unaffected eye.
Methods
A descriptive comparative study of patients with an active flare of UAAU has been performed using spectral domain OCT (Spectralis HRA + OCT, Heidelberg, Germany). Forty eyes of twenty patients with idiopathic non-infectious UAAU were included. Data analysed were: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA); anterior chamber cells; macular volume and macular thickness in nine sectors of the macular area -central region and in eight sectors surrounding the center (inner-superior, inner-nasal, inner-temporal and inner-inferior and outer superior, nasal, temporal and inferior-). Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test.
Results
We included 20 patients with idiopathic UAAU during an active episode (14 males; mean age, 32±7.9 years old). BCVA was 0.82 ± 0.33 in the affected eye and 0.93 ± 0.27 in the healthy eye. Mean anterior chamber cells according to SUN classification were 2.40 ± 0.82 in the affected eye and 0.15± 0.67 in the healthy eye. Mean central macular thickness was 274.55 ± 31.87 μ in the affected eye and 267.90 ± 28.20 μ in the healthy eye (p=0.337). There were no statistical differences in macular thickness in any macular region between both eyes of UAAU patients. Macular volume was 10.395 ± 0.7265 mm3 in the involved eye and 10.00 ± 0,8838 mm3 in the healthy eye (p=0.023).
Conclusions
There are no significant differences in macular central thickness between the involved eyes versus the healthy eyes during an acute episode of UAAU. The only parameter that is significantly altered is the macular volume, which could be a useful clinical indicator to monitor uveitis activity. Further studies are needed to clarify these findings.
Keywords: 746 uveitis-clinical/animal model •
552 imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) •
585 macula/fovea