Role of spectral domain optical coherence tomography in assessment of macular morphological abnormalities in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate macular morphological changes in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and to assess their correlation with visual acuity. Setting and design A prospective observational comparative study was conducted in Tiba Eye Center (T. E. C.), Assiut, Egypt, from August 2013 to July 2014. Patients and methods A total of 13 consecutive patients experiencing RP (26 eyes) were recruited. An age-matched control group of 13 healthy volunteers was also recruited. All patients and volunteers underwent SD-OCT evaluation by SPECTRALIS OCT. Results Overall, 26 (13 patients) eyes in the RP group and 26 (13 volunteers) eyes in the control group were included. In RP group, the mean central macular thickness (CMT) at 1 mm was 180.6±22.18 µm, whereas the mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.11±0.08. In the control group, the mean CMT was 222.6±10.9 µm, whereas the mean BCVA was 0.9±0.11. By SD-OCT, foveal atrophy was found in 14 (53.8%) eyes, cystoid macular edema in five (19.2%) eyes, epiretinal membrane in six (23.1%) eyes, and lamellar macular hole in one (3.8%) eye in patients with RP. In nine (34.6%) eyes, there was interruption of the inner segment-outer segment junction and the external limiting membrane in the subfoveal region. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between CMT and BCVA among the RP group (r=0.813, P=0.000). BCVA categories among RP group were significantly associated with foveal atrophy (P=0.003) and inner segment-outer segment junction interruption (P=0.000). Conclusion SD-OCT is an important tool in the evaluation of macular morphological changes in patients with RP.