title: Retinal nerve fiber layer structure abnormalities in patients with Neuro-Behcet's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was the evaluation of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and central macular thickness (CMT) in patients with Neuro-Behcet's disease (NBD) and to compare the results with healthy control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 50 eyes of 25 patients with NBD and 42 eyes of 21 age-matched healthy control subjects. Patients and control subjects underwent a thorough ophthalmic examination, including retinal nerve fiber layer and macular thickness measurements by optical coherence tomography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant difference was found between groups for age, sex, intra-ocular pressure and central corneal thickness measurements. The average RNFL in patients with NBD was significantly lower than that of healthy controls (86.92 ± 18.36 μm vs. 99.74 ± 8.73 μm; p = 0.00). There was significant thinning of the RNFL in three of four quadrants of the peripapillary area, superior (107.22 ± 30.91 μm vs. 125.57 ± 20.97 μm; p = 0.00), inferior (110.36 ± 25.57 μm vs. 132.19 ± 12.71 μm; p = 0.00) and nasal (68.84 ± 18.47 μm vs. 74.98 ± 11.42 μm; p = 0.05), in patients with NBD. Average CMT was significantly lower in NBD patients than in control subjects (244.06 ± 26.25 μm vs. 261.69 ± 25.71 μm; p = 0.00).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are significant differences in average RNFL and CMT between the two groups. RNFL and CMT thicknesses are reduced in patients with NBD compared with the healthy controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Cerrahpasa Medical School, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, didarucar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Didar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ucar
authors.forename: Ugur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Uygunoglu
authors.forename: Funda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dikkaya
authors.forename: Yeliz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yıldırım
authors.forename: Cansu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuksel-Elgin
authors.forename: Sabahattin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saip
authors.forename: Aksel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siva
authors.forename: Yilmaz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozyazgan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity