Abstract
Purpose: :
To report normal macular thickness measurements in healthy eyes in an adult Chinese population using Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Methods: :
The Handan Eye Study is a population-based study of eye disease in rural Chinese aged 30+ years. Eligible residents underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination including retinal photography and Stratus OCT. Fast macular thickness scans were performed over a 6-mm diameter central retinal region. Retinal thickness and volume was automatically calculated by OCT mapping software. Macular thickness is presented on a modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study grid, with radii for the central, inner, and outer macular regions being 0.5, 1.5, and 3 mm, respectively. Measurements were displayed as the mean and standard deviation (SD).
Results: :
Of the 6,830 persons examined, 1988 eyes from 2083 healthy subjects with high-quality scan data were selected (mean age, 46.0±9.6 years, 58.1% women). The mean (SD) minimum foveal thickness was 150.8 (18.0) µm and mean (SD) total macular volume was 6.8 (0.5) mm3. The means (SD) thickness of the central, inner, and outer macula were 176.5 (17.3), 255.0 (15.1), and 237.8 (12.5) µm, respectively. Macular thickness measurements were thinnest at the center of the fovea, thickest within 3-mm diameter of the center, and diminished toward the periphery of the macula (P<0.001). The foveal thickness increased with increasing age and was significantly thicker in women than in men (P<0.001). No correlation was found between foveal thickness and refraction, axial length or BMI after adjustment for age and gender.
Conclusions: :
In this population-based study, average retinal thickness and its associations in an adult Chinese population were defined using a commercially available OCT. Macular thickness with significant age and gender difference was demonstrated. Mean foveal thickness measurements were very near to previously reported values of Whites. Normal macular thickness data from this study is valuable for the evaluation of pathological macular thickness changes and monitoring of disease progression in many clinical situations.
Keywords: macula/fovea • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • imaging/image analysis: non-clinical