Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in amblyopic eyes.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness of sound and amblyopic eyes.


METHODS
Prospective observational case series.


METHODS



METHODS
Institutional.


METHODS
Patients with unilateral strabismic, anisometropic, or combined amblyopia.


METHODS
Fast RNFL analysis with ocular coherence tomography (OCT) of sound and amblyopic eyes.


METHODS
Mean RNFL thickness.


RESULTS
For the 17 patients (mean age 10.7 years) in whom both eyes were imaged, the mean thickness of the sound eye was 109.2 microm (median 112.7) and of the amblyopic eye was 104.2 microm (median 105.0), and the average difference (sound eye less amblyopic eye) was 5.0 microm (median 3.0) (95% confidence interval -2.3, 12.2, P = .17). The sound eye was 10 microm or more thicker than the amblyopic eye in four patients; the amblyopic eye was 10 microm or more thicker than the sound eye in one patient; and the difference was within 10 microm in 12 patients. Test-retest data were obtained for 23 pairs of sound eyes and 21 pairs of amblyopic eyes, with 75% of the test-retest pairs within 7%.


CONCLUSIONS
We found a small, but not clinically significant, difference in nerve fiber layer (NFL) thickness between amblyopic and sound eyes. Reliability was excellent, with most eyes testing within 7% of the first test.
Repka
Michael X
MX
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. mrepka@jhmi.edu
Goldenberg-Cohen
Nitza
N
Edwards
Allison R
AR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015858:Anisometropia / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D013285:Strabismus / Q000150:complications; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*