Abstract
Purpose: :
To quantify whether Parkinson’s Disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease, affects the inner retina as measured by Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).
Methods: :
This is a prospective, multicenter study in which 46 consecutive PD eyes and 27 normal eyes were examined. Patients were in stage III or earlier phase of PD. Eighteen eyes were from non-medicated PD patients . All patients underwent a 12 point ophthalmological exam and an Optovue RTvue Fourier-Domain OCT was employed using the MM4 and MM7 scans to examine the retinal nerve fiver layer thickness (NFL). The mean ages of normal subjects and PD patients were 66.7 ± 13.5 and 66.4 ± 7.8 years (p=0.057) respectively.
Results: :
The mean superior NFL of the macula in normal subjects vs. PD eyes was 99.6 vs. 86.8 (p<0.001). The mean inferior NFL of the macula in normal subjects vs. PD eyes was 97.4 vs. 85.5 (p<0.001).
Conclusions: :
The NFL in PD patients is thinner than normal in a statistically significant manner. This change must be separated from glaucomatous change when using the OCT. The effect of PD on macular thinning is consistent with previous functional studies using the ERG. Retinal involvement in PD apparently is not limited to dopaminergic amacrine cells.
Keywords: retina • retina: proximal (bipolar, amacrine, and ganglion cells) • retinal connections, networks, circuitry