Gender Difference of Macular Thickness Measured by Stratus and Cirrus Optical Coherence Tomography in Normal Subjects

Abstract

Purpose: : The effect of gender on macular thickness has been reported using time domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) but remains controversial. The purpose of this study is to investigate macular thickness difference in male and female normal subjects using both time domain and spectral domain OCT

Methods: : Adult volunteers (>18 years old) were recruited at the clinics of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They underwent a complete ophthalmic examination and abnormal subjects were excluded except mild cataract or refractive error between -6D and +6D. Only one eye was included from one subject by random selection. Fast macular mapping program in Stratus OCT and macular mapping program in Cirrus OCT were performed. The macular thicknesses at 9 ETDRS subfield, total macular volume, foveal minimum thickness, and total macular average thickness were recorded. Inner average thickness and outer average thickness were calculated. All the parameters were compared between male and female groups by independent t test.

Results: : Totally there were 123 male and 230 female normal subjects underwent Stratus OCT examination. Among them, 63 male and 107 female underwent received Cirrus OCT. By Stratus OCT, all parameters except superior outer and inferior outer macular thickness were statistically significant thicker in male than in female. The foveal, inner average and outer average macular thickness of male are thicker than those of female by 7.31%, 3.32% and 1.37% respectively. The total macular thickness of male is larger than it of female by 1.97%. The same results were seen by Cirrus OCT. All parameters except superior outer, inferior outer and outer average macular thickness were statistically significant thicker in male than in female. The foveal, inner average and outer average macular thickness of male are thicker than those of female by 3.64%, 2.09% and 1.04% respectively. The total macular thickness of male is larger than it of female by 1.58%.

Conclusions: : Macular thickness is thicker in male than in female measured by both Stratus and Cirrus OCT. This should be considered when accessing macular thickness.

Keywords: macula/fovea • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)