Purpose:
To provide normative values for the peripheral retinal thickness in healthy persons measured with Spectralis-OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, dual SD-OCT and cSLO).
Methods:
Peripheral volume scans (25 single scans) were acquired in upper and lower temporal and nasal retinal quadrants after pupil dilation. Central volume scan (49 single scans) through the macula and circular scan around the optic nerve were also taken to exclude optic nerve and macular pathology. The peripheral thickness was estimated every 22.5° except 270° (position of the optic nerve) at the distances from the fovea listed below (table, figure) starting at 12 o’clock, on the left eye clockwise, on the right eye against the clock.
Results:
Fifty subjects were included in the study (age of subjects 19 to 30 y, mean 25.5 y). None of them showed any pathology of the retina or the optic nerve. The spherical equivalent (SE) ranged from-5.75 to +5.0 dpt (mean -1.1).The results of the measurements are shown on the table and figure below.
Conclusions:
With the higher distance from the fovea retina becomes thinner. In conformity with anatomical structure of the eye the highest retinal thickness was nasal and lowest temporal from the fovea. Normative values of the peripheral retinal thickness are valuable to quantify the severity of degenerative and vascular retinal disorders.
Keywords: imaging/image analysis: non-clinical • retina • anatomy