Abstract
Purpose :
To compare retinal layer thicknesses in patients with stable Vogt Koyanagi Harada (VKH) disease, VKH with macular edema post resolution, and normal individuals
Methods :
Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of stable VKH managed at a tertiary care center between 2009 and 2017 were analyzed. These patients were divided into two groups based on the absence of macular edema (Group 1) and history of resolved macular edema (Group 2). SD-OCT (Heidelberg Spectralis®) was utilized to capture 5-line High Definition (HD) raster scans centered on the foveal center. The semi-automated segmentation tool of the Heyex Software Version 6.2 was utilized to segment the retinal layers into 1) Full Retinal Thickness (FRT); 2) Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL); 3) Ganglion Cell Layer (GCL); 4) Inner Plexiform Layer (IPL); 5) Inner Nuclear Layer (INL); 6) Outer Plexiform Layer (OPL); 7) Outer Nuclear Layer (ONL); 8) Photoreceptor Layer (PRL); 9) Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE). The average thicknesses of these layers across the 5-line raster scan were also calculated. Similar segmentation and analyses were also performed on 22 normal eyes (11 Patients).
Results :
Forty-two eyes (22 patients) with VKH disease were enrolled in the study. 32 eyes were without macular edema and 10 eyes had a history of resolved macular edema. The mean average thicknesses of the segmented layers in the three study groups are shown in Table 1. A significant thinning of the ONL, PRL, and RPE layers was seen in group 2.
Conclusions :
Macular edema is an uncommon complication in patients with VKH disease. Our study showed a significant thinning of the ONL, PRL and RPE layers in patients with VKH with macular edema status post resolution, compared to those with stable VKH disease. Chronic inflammation with secondary atrophic changes in the above mentioned retinal layers may be a possible explanation for our findings.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.