title: [Macula study in Stargardt's disease].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate de macular structural damage in Stargardt's disease by optical coherence tomography, correlating with visual acuity and disease duration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with Stargardt's disease were included and submitted to visual acuity (logMAR) measurement and complementary examinations performed were color fundus photographs, fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography. All cases were reexamined for diagnostic confirmation and the duration of symptoms was determined. The control group was composed of the same number of subjects, matched by sex and age, without any ophthalmologic alteration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample was composed of 22 patients (44 eyes) with Stargardt's disease, 11 (50%) males and 11 (50%) females. The duration of the disease varied from 3 to 21 years (mean of 11.4 +/- 5.3 years). The groups did not show significant differences in age (p= 0.98) and sex. Concerning the macular thickness in optical coherence tomography, the variation in the study group differed significantly from the control group, presenting smaller values of thickness (p<0.001). There was negative and significant correlation between the duration of disease and the macular thickness assessed by optical coherence tomography (r=-0.57 and p=0.005). There was positive correlation between the duration of the disease and the visual acuity (r=0.50 and p=0.0167) and negative correlation between the visual acuity and the macular thickness in optical coherence tomography (r=-0.83 and p=0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was evidenced that patients with Stargardt's disease have a thinner macular thickness when compared to normal subjects, and this reduction is related to the duration of symptoms of the disease. Additionally, the thickness and also the duration of the disease influence the visual prognosis of the patients.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Oftalmologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. omaiausp@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Otacílio de Oliveira
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.forename: Walter Yukihiko
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Tiago Eugênio Faria e
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Arantes
authors.forename: Raquel Barbosa Paes
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.forename: João Lins de
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Andrade Neto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity; D055815:Young Adult