Purpose
To investigate the visual function of eyes with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) complicated by cystoid macular edema (CME).
Methods
We reviewed the medical records of 32 eyes of 19 RP patients (9 men, 10 women; age 18 to 73 years; average 48.6±17.8 years) who developed CME during the natural course of RP at Chiba University Hospital. We reviewed the integrity of the IS/OS junction (Grade 1; not visible, Grade 2; discontinuous, Grade 3; continuous) , IS/OS length, and central foveal thickness (CFT) in the optical coherence tomographic images (OCT, Spectralis®, Heidelberg) before and after the onset of CME. The changes of the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after the CME, and the correlations of the BCVA and OCT parameters after the onset of CME were analyzed.
Results
The logMAR BCVA before and after the onset of CME was 0.4 and 0.4 in Grade 1 eye (1), 0.45±0.18 and 0.52±0.18 in Grade 2 eyes (7), and 0.076±0.13 and 0.15±0.17 in Grade 3 eyes (24). The change in the BCVA in Grade 3 eyes was significant (P=0.0022). There was a significant correlation between CFT and BCVA only in Grade 3 eyes (P=0.0095, r=0.512). No significant correlation was found between the IS/OS length and BCVA in Grade 3 eyes.
Conclusions
The BCVA decreases significantly in RP patients with continuous IS/OS when CME develops.
Keywords: 696 retinal degenerations: hereditary •
688 retina •
585 macula/fovea