Progressive change of optical coherence tomography scans in retinal degeneration slow mice.
OBJECTIVE
To study whether optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans correlate retinal histologic findings with the progression of retinal degeneration in retinal degeneration slow (rds) mice.


METHODS
Sensory retinal thickness (SRT) and outer retinal thickness (ORT), representing photoreceptor cell layer, in temporal retina at a distance 1 to 2 disc diameters from the optic disc were measured using scan profile in OCT from 6 healthy mice (16 weeks old) and 2-week-old (n = 6), 6-week-old (n = 4), and 60-week-old (n = 2) rds mice. Histologic sections were obtained from Epon-embedded retinas from the corresponding location.


RESULTS
Cross-sectional OCT images correlated to the corresponding histologic sections in each mouse. Both SRT and ORT of 2-week-old rds mice (150 +/- 4 microm and 28 +/- 4 microm, respectively) lacking photoreceptor outer segments were already shorter than those of healthy mice (174 +/- 5 microm and 37 +/- 6 microm, respectively) (P<.001). In 6-week-old mice, microscopic findings revealed a decreased number of nuclei in the outer nuclear layer, and SRT and ORT (136 +/- 2 microm and 20 +/- 1 microm, respectively) were shorter than those of 2-week-old rds mice (P<.001). The SRT of 60-week-old rds mice without a photoreceptor layer was remarkably reduced (120 +/- 7 microm), and no ORT could be measured.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest a possible relationship between SRT and ORT, as measured by OCT, and histologic change in retinal degenerative diseases.


CONCLUSIONS
The quantitative analysis obtained by OCT scans may have potential to detect progressive change in degenerative retina and may be used in studying human retinal degeneration.
Horio
N
N
Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, 65 Tsuruma-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-0065, Japan. naoichi@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Kachi
S
S
Hori
K
K
Okamoto
Y
Y
Yamamoto
E
E
Terasaki
H
H
Miyake
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D018450:Disease Progression; D007368:Interferometry; D008027:Light; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000473:pathology*; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014054:Tomography