Macular and peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in adults with amblyopia

Abstract

Objective To evaluate macular and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in amblyopic eyes compared to the fellow eye. Design Cross-sectional study. Participants 30 patients (60 eyes) older than 18 years of age with amblyopia. Methods Inclusion criteria included individuals older than 18 years, amblyopia, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ≤20/40. A complete medical history was taken and an eye examination carried out. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was carried out on both eyes of all patients. Exclusion criteria included intraocular pressure (IOP) >23 mm Hg and eye pathology that may affect OCT measurements. The primary outcome measures were foveal thickness and average peripapillary RNFL thickness, which were compared using a paired t test. Quadrants in peripapillary scans and concentric rings in macular scans were analyzed. Results The average age was 56 years (range = 33–82 years). Visual acuity ranged from 20/40 to 20/4000 (mean = 20/275). The average peripapillary RNFL thickness was 90.6 μm (SD = 9.6 μm) in the amblyopic eye and 90.1 μm (SD = 12.1 μm) in the fellow eye ( p = 0.64). The average macular thickness in amblyopic eyes was 260.1 μm (SD = 32.0 μm), and 254.7 μm (SD = 32.5 μm) in fellow eyes ( p = 0.10). No statistical difference existed between peripapillary quadrants or macular concentric rings. These differences were smaller when the strabismic amblyopes were isolated. Conclusions There does not seem to be a difference in peripapillary RNFL or macular thickness between the amblyopic eye and fellow eye.