Macular and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Unilateral Anisometropic or Strabismic Amblyopia

Abstract

To compare the macular and nerve fiber layer thicknesses as measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in amblyopic and fellow eyes. Fifty patients with monocular strabismic (n = 25) or anisometropic (n = 25) amblyopia (best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ranging from 20/40 to 20/400) were included in a prospective cross-sectional descriptive study. A refractive error more than 5 diopters in either eye or an axial length difference between the eyes of more than 1 mm was excluded in the anisometropic group. In all cases, the thickness of the macular area and the peripapillary nerve fiber layer were measured by OCT in both amblyopic and fellow eyes and compared with each other. The mean age of patients was 10 ± 3.1 years (range: 6 to 18 years) in the anisometropic group and 8.9 ± 3.7 years (range: 6 to 18 years) in the strabismic group. In the anisometropic group, the mean macular thickness was significantly increased in the amblyopic eyes (222.6 ± 47.8 μm) versus the fellow eyes (205.6 ± 33.3 μm) (P = .002), although there was no significant difference observed when comparing with the prepapillary nerve fiber layer (P = .55). There was no significant correlation of above-mentioned matters in the strabismic group (P = .07 and .52). A thicker macula was found in anisometropic amblyopic eyes, but the increase of macular thickness in strabismic amblyopic eyes was not significant. Retinal involvement was not observed in the peripapillary nerve fiber layer of amblyopic eyes.