Ability of Fourier domain OCT to evaluate macula in retinitis pigmentosa patients

Abstract

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the ability of Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) detecting changes in macular structure and thickness in patients diagnosed of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Methods Thirty‐two eyes of 16 patients with RP and 30 eyes of 30 healthy subjects underwent a complete ophthalmic examination with best corrected visual acuity, 512x128 macular volume cube protocol using Cirrus HD‐OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., USA) and Spectralis OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, Germany). Macular changes as retinal schisis, macular hole (MH), epiretinal membrane (EM), retinal pigment epithelial detachment (PED) or macular drusen, were registered. Comparisons between RP and healthy eyes were done for the nine macular areas defined by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS). Results All macular thickness parameters showed a statistically significant decrease in the RP patients (p<0.05, t test). The greater difference with control eyes was observed in the nasal inner ETDRS area (247.54 vs 328.99 µm with Cirrus OCT and 259.65 vs 351.74 µm using Spectralis OCT). Retinal abnormalities found in RP eyes were: 16% retinal schisis, 3.3% MH, 6.6% EM and 3.3% PED. Conclusion Retinal atrophy and structural alterations can be detected in RP patients using Fourier domain OCT.