Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Occult macular dystrophy (OMD) is an inherited macular dystrophy characterized by a progressive macular dysfunction without any visible fundus abnormality. Although the fundi of eyes with OMD are essentially normal by ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography, the possibility of subtle morphological abnormalities has not been ruled out. We studied the foveal thickness in patients with OMD using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods:Foveal thickness obtained from 22 eyes of 11 patients with OMD was compared to that from 27 eyes of 20 age-matched normal controls. To measure the central foveal thickness precisely, the scan which had thinnest foveal thickness out of all the scans from each session was used for the analysis in both normals and patients. Results: Mean foveal thickness in the patients group (96.5 ± 19.5 µm) was significantly thinner than that in the normal controls (133.3 ± 9.0 µm, P < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test). Eighteen of 22 eyes with OMD had foveal thickness that were thinner than the lower limit of the normal range. There was no statistically significant correlation between the foveal thickness and visual acuity, age, or duration from onset. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that there are significant anatomical changes in the macula of patients with OMD. OCT may be a useful adjunct tool to diagnose this type of macular dystrophy.
Keywords: electroretinography: clinical • macula/fovea • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, S