title: Swept-source optical coherence tomography imaging of macular retinal and choroidal structures in healthy eyes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To report the thickness of the retina, retinal ganglion cell (RGC)-related layers, and choroid in healthy subjects using swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and forty-six healthy volunteers were consecutively recruited for this prospective observational study. Thickness of retina, RGC-related layers, and choroid in the standard early treatment of diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) grid were automatically measured using one SS-OCT (DRI OCT-1, Topcon, Japan). The IOL Master (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Germany) was used to measure axial length (AL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thicknesses of the average macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) were 105.3±9.7 and 78.5±6.2 um respectively. Neither of them was significantly related with sex, age, or AL. Both showed strong correlations with retinal thickness (r=0.793, p=0.000; r=0.813, p=0.000, respectively) and with similar topographic distributions within the retina. The thicknesses of retina and GCC/GCIPL in the inner sectors were significantly higher than in the outer sectors of the EDTRS area, while in the same region of the macula, the choroid exhibited completely different patterns of topographic variation. Men had 7.8 um thicker retina and 34.9 um thicker choroid than women after adjustment for age and AL (all p<0.05). Age and AL could significantly influence the choroidal thickness but not the retina (all p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thickness of GCC/GCIPL in healthy Chinese individuals is not dramatically different across gender, age, and AL groups in terms of ETDRS grid, but sex is critical for retinal and choroidal thickness. Choroidal structure (but not retinal) can be significantly influenced by age and AL.
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. 57302709@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jiawei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. 936319557@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xinbo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. cyhwenb@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. will.wong@qq.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. chenshida123@126.com.
authors.forename: Sida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. challenge134@126.com.
authors.forename: Shaolin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. xingxing1022@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xingyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54S.Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, China. zhangxl2@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiulan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D044466:Asian People; D058452:Axial Length, Eye / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002829:Choroid / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012160:Retina / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D055815:Young Adult