title: Prevalence of myelinated retinal nerve fibres in adult Indians: the Central India Eye and Medical Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of myelinated retinal nerve fibers in the adult Indian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Central India Eye and Medical Study performed in rural Central India included 4711 participants aged 30+ years. The participants underwent a detailed ophthalmic and medical examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Readable fundus photographs were available for 8645 eyes of 4485 (95.2%) subjects. Myelinated retinal nerve fibers were detected in 52 eyes (46 subjects) with a prevalence rate of 0.58±0.08 per 100 eyes [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42, 0.74] and 1.03±0.15 per 100 subjects (95%CI: 0.73, 1.32). Prevalence of myelinated retinal nerve fibers was significantly associated hyperopic refractive error (p=0.008; OR: 1.31; 95%CI: 1.07, 1.59). It was not significantly associated with age (p=0.11), best corrected visual acuity (logMAR; p=0.33), intraocular pressure (p=0.09), amount of nuclear cataract (p=0.93), optic disc area (p=0.60), presence of glaucomatous optic nerve atrophy (p=0.62), and early age-related macular degeneration (p=0.53).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Myelinated retinal nerve fibers are present in about 10 out of 1000 adult Indians in rural Central India, with a higher prevalence in hyperopic eyes. Prevalence of myelinated retinal nerve fibers was not associated with age, visual acuity, glaucoma and macular degeneration.
authors.affiliation: Suraj Eye Institute, Nagpur, Maharashtra, IndiaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nangia
authors.forename: Jost B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jonas
authors.forename: Anshu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khare
authors.forename: Karishma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhate
authors.forename: Shubhra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Songhomitra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Panda-Jonas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012424:Rural Population; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: Central India Eye and Medical Study; glaucoma; myelinated retinal nerve fibres; oligodendrocytes; optic nerve; retina