Evaluation of the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in eyes with idiopathic macular holes.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in eyes with idiopathic macular holes and age-matched normal controls using scanning laser polarimeter.


METHODS
The retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was measured in 40 eyes of 40 consecutive patients with idiopathic macular hole (stage 1, 10 eyes; stage 2, eight eyes; stage 3, 15 eyes; stage 4, seven eyes) and 40 eyes of 40 age-matched normal controls with a scanning laser polarimeter. The retinal nerve fiber layer thickness within a 10-pixel-wide ellipse located concentrically with the disk and located 1.5-disk diameters from the center of the disk was measured. The mean overall retinal nerve fiber layer thickness of the peripapillary retina, four 90-degree quadrants, and 16 equal sectors of every 22.5 degrees was calculated for both groups. The retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in the two groups was statistically compared.


RESULTS
The mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measurement for the overall peripapillary retina and for three of the four 90-degree quadrants was not significantly different between the two groups. However, the temporal 90-degree quadrant was significantly thinner in the macular hole group (47.2 versus 54.6 microm, P =.026). For the 16 sectors of 22.5 degrees, the lower three sectors of the four sectors in the temporal quadrant were thinner in the macular hole group (P <.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The retinal nerve fiber layer thickness of the papillomacular area is thinner in eyes with idiopathic macular hole than that in normal eyes. The progressive thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness as the stage of the macular hole advances may suggest that surgery should be done at the earliest stage.
Kurimoto
Y
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan. kurina@vision.eri.harvard.edu
Kaneko
Y
Y
Matsuno
K
K
Akimoto
M
M
Yoshimura
N
N
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000473:pathology*