Abstract
Purpose :
To explore the utility of three color scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) optical coherence tomography (OCT) in identifying pathologic zones of partial injury in parafoveal regions of eyes affected by Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON).
Methods :
Multicolor images were obtained from the posterior pole of the patients with confirmed LHON and non-affected LHON using the Heidleberg Spectralis HRA OCT instrument (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Red, green and blue channels of the multicolor images were exported to ImageJ (open source) software. A 1500 micrometer circle was centered over the fovea, the chromatic luminance was measured in a 200x200 micrometers square 1.5 and 3.0 millimeters nasal, and 1.5 and 3.0 millimeters temporal to the fovea in each channel. The difference in chromatic luminance of the nasal and temporal squares was compared between LHON affected and non-affected eyes.
Results :
Three eyes of two patients with affected LHON and two eyes of one non-affected LHON were included. There was a decreasing trend in green (25.225 nasal, 4.89 temporal) and blue (15.68, 4.45) luminance between affected and non-affected eyes. Rigorous statistical analysis was not possible due to a small N. However, given the limitations of the data, it appears there is a decreasing trend in shorter wavelengths within the papillomacular bundle in eyes affected by LHON. Patient recruitment is ongoing.
Conclusions :
Though limited to a small number of patients with a very rare disease, our findings demonstrated a trend which reflects the attenuation of shorter wavelengths in the most affected retinal tissues. This may be a useful in vivo imaging tool to identify the nature of LHON pathophysiology.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.