Progression of PROM1-Associated Retinal Degeneration as Determined by Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Over a 24-Month Period

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate the progression of atrophy as determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in patients with molecularly confirmed PROM1-associated retinal degeneration (RD) over a 24 months period. DesignInternational, multicenter, prospective case series. MethodsA total of 13 eyes (13 patients) affected with PROM1-associated RD were enrolled at five sites and SD-OCT images were obtained at baseline and after 24 months. Loss of mean thickness (MT) and intact area were estimated after semi-automated segmentation for the following individual retinal layers in the central subfield (CS), inner ring and outer ring of the ETDRS grid: retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), outer segments (OS), inner segments (IS), outer nuclear layer (ONL), inner retina (IR), and total retina (TR). ResultsStatistically significant losses of thickness of RPE and TR were detected in the CS and inner ring and of ONL and IS in the outer ring (all p<0,05); a statistically significant decrease of intact area of RPE and IS was observed in the inner ring and of ONL in the outer ring (all p<0,05); the change in MT and the intact area of the other layers showed a trend of decline over an observational period of 24 months. ConclusionsSignificant thickness losses could be detected in outer retinal layers by SD-OCT over a 24 months period in patients with PROM1-associated retinal degeneration. Loss of thickness and/or intact area of such layers may serve as potential endpoints for clinical trials that aim to slow down the disease progression of PROM1-associated retinal degeneration.