title: Effect of age on individual retinal layer thickness in normal eyes as measured with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of age on the thickness of individual retinal layers, measured with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), in a population of healthy Caucasians.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty subjects with an age ranging between 18 and 81 years were examined with SD-OCT. Mean layer thickness was calculated for seven retinal layers, in the fovea (region 1 of the 9 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] regions); in the pericentral ring (ETDRS regions 2 to 5); and the peripheral ring (ETDRS regions 6 to 9) following automated segmentation using the Iowa Reference Algorithm. In addition, mean peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness was measured. The partial correlation test was performed on each layer to determine the effect of age on layer thickness, while correcting for spherical equivalent, sex, and Topcon image quality factor as confounders, followed by Bonferroni corrections to adjust for multiple testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The thickness of the peripapillary RNFL (R = -0.332; P < 0.001); pericentral ganglion cell layer (R = -0.354, P < 0.001); peripheral inner plexiform layer (R = -0.328, P < 0.001); and foveal outer segment layer (R = -0.381, P < 0.001) decreased significantly with increasing age. Foveal RPE thickness (R = 0.467, P < 0.001) increased significantly with increasing age; other layers showed no significant differences with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Several macular layers and the peripapillary RNFL thickness showed significant changes correlated with age. This should be taken into consideration when analyzing macular layers and the peripapillary RNFL in SD-OCT studies of retinal diseases and glaucoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. NDemirkaya@amc.nl
authors.forename: Nazli
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demirkaya
authors.forename: Hille W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.forename: Sanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: van Schuppen
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Abràmoff
authors.forename: Mona K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Garvin
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sonka
authors.forename: Reinier O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Schlingemann
authors.forename: Frank D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Verbraak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000465:Algorithms; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012160:Retina / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: SD-OCT; aging; retinal layer thickness