Abstract
Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) represents a reliable tool for retinal layer volume and thickness measurement. The aim of this study was to evaluate retinal changes indicating neurodegenerative processes in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to healthy controls. This was a cross-sectional, single-center study comprising 32 ESRD patients and 38 controls. Sectoral retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and retinal layer volumes were obtained by SD-OCT. Age- and gender-adjusted retinal layer volumes such as total retinal volume (p = 0.037), ganglion cell layer volume (GCL, p = 0.003), ganglion cell layer – inner plexiform layer volume (GCL-IPL, p = 0.005) and inner retinal layer volume (IRL, p = 0.042) of the right eye were lower in ESRD patients. Inner plexiform layer volume of both eyes (IPL, right eye: p = 0.017; left eye: 0.044) was reduced, as was RNFL thickness in the temporal superior sector (right eye: p = 0.016). A subgroup analysis excluding patients with diabetes revealed that GCL (p = 0.014) and GCL-IPL volume of the right eye (p = 0.024) and temporal superior sector of the RNFL scan (p = 0.021) in ESRD patients were still significantly thinner. We observed a decrease in several retinal layer volumes and temporal RNFL thickness indicative of retinal neurodegenerative processes in patients with ESRD.
Highlights
Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) represents a reliable tool for retinal layer volume and thickness measurement
A decrease in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness or volume evaluated by OCT thereby represents an indicator of atrophy due to axonal and neuronal loss and multiple studies have shown that these alterations can be detected even earlier than through funduscopy[17,23]
There were no significant differences in office systolic and diastolic or mean blood pressure (BP) as well as body mass index (BMI), HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose (FPG)
Summary
Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) represents a reliable tool for retinal layer volume and thickness measurement. The aim of this study was to evaluate retinal changes indicating neurodegenerative processes in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to healthy controls. This was a cross-sectional, single-center study comprising 32 ESRD patients and 38 controls. A significant thinning of the RNFL in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has been reported[26,27,28] These alterations determined by OCT examination may be indicative of neurodegenerative mechanisms affecting the visual function in those patients and need to be further explored
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