Automated macular segmentation with spectral domain optical coherence tomography in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral retinal vein occlusion

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the change in the macular layers in the fellow eyes of unilateral retinal vein occlusion (RVO) patients and to evaluate whether certain layers are more affected based on RVO type. Methods: This retrospective study included 87 fellow eyes of patients with unilateral RVO (26 central, 61 branch) and 105 eyes of 105 subjects without RVO. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography was used for automatized retinal segmentation. The thicknesses of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cells, inner plexiform, inner nuclear, outer plexiform, outer nuclear, photoreceptor layers, overall inner retinal layers and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) were documented. Results: Inner plexiform layer was thinner in inferior sector in RVO group compared with the control group (p = 0.047). The subgroup analysis showed that the retina was thinner in RVO group compared with the controls without systemic diseases in some sectors of the following layers: inferior retina, RNFL, ganglion cell layer, inner plexiform layer, inner retinal layers and RPE (p < 0.05). Retinal thickness was decreased in the fellow eyes of branch RVO group compared to that in the central RVO group in the some sectors (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The fellow eyes of unilateral RVO patients did not show major structural differences compared with the controls; however, they revealed significant sectoral thinning in many retinal layers when compared with the eyes of healthy subjects without systemic diseases. Central macula was thinner in the fellow eyes of patients with branch RVO compared to that in central RVO. © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.