title: Clinical assessment of retinal changes by spectral-domain OCT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate optical coherence tomography changes in patients with retinal thinning at the posterior pole.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional and retrospective study, 648 files were reviewed, and 67 patients were selected. Optical coherence tomography images that showed an area with a retinal thickness reduction at the macular region by using the Asymmetry Analysis Map in Heidelberg Spectralis were selected. The presence of hemisphere asymmetry in the same eye and asymmetry between the paired eyes were calculated and used for the analysis. Retinal thickness was measured in 3 different retinal areas (squares): (1) the area (square) involved by the pathology (IA), (2) the specular area (square) in the opposite hemifield (SA), and (3) the corresponding IA in the contralateral eye (CIA) (area used to recruit the patients). Retinal layer morphology was analyzed observing the Spectralis screen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The thickness of the IA was 235.54 ± 39.95 µm (mean ± standard deviation), while it was 269.84 ± 36.16 µm and 293.81 ± 37.52 µm for SA and CIA, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different retinal layers could be involved in reduction of the retinal thickness: a reduction of the inner layers was related to disease in which ciliary or retinal arterial vessel flow was involved, while a reduction of the outer retinal layer was related to pathologies related to choroidal flow diseases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Clinico Anatomo-funzionale per la Diagnosi e il Trattamento del Glaucoma e della Malattie Neurooftalmologiche, Clinica Oculistica, DiNOGMI, University of Genoa, Genoa - Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iester
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Violanti
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borgia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015862:Choroid Diseases; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000473:pathology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*