Abstract
Purpose:
To determine if there is a significant correlation between the retinal vein diameters, and the thickness of different retinal layers, the visual acuities (VA), and the visual field scores in eyes with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
Methods:
The medical records of 49 eyes of 37 RP patients (age: 48.0±14.4 years) were reviewed. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography was used to determine the thicknesses of the fovea and different retinal layers (entire retina, nerve fiber layer (NFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), inner nuclear layer (INL) and other outer layers) at 1 and 2 mm superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal to the fovea. The diameters of the supero-temporal and infero-temporal retinal major veins were measured at 0.75 disc diameters from the optic disc margin.
Results:
The average retinal vein diameter was 94.6±19.8 µm. The thickness of the entire retina, fovea, NFL, GCL, IPL, INL, and other outer layer were 278.9±43.3 µm, 188.6±63.1 µm, 41.2±7.4 µm, 56.0±9.7 µm, 33.0±4.9 µm, 50.8±8.2 µm, and 93.9±39.0 µm, respectively. The vein diameter was significantly correlated with the thickness of the IPL, outer retinal layer, entire retina, and fovea (all P<0.01). The vein diameter was also significantly correlated with the VAs (P<0.05) negatively and the visual field scores (P<0.001) positively.
Conclusions:
A narrowing of retinal vein diameter in eyes of RP may be associated with the retinal atrophy and decrease of visual function.