Outer Retinal Layer Thickness Changes in White Matter Hyperintensity and Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the thickness changes of outer retinal layers in subjects with white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and Parkinson's Disease (PD).Methods: 56 eyes from 31 patients with WMH, 11 eyes from 6 PD patients, and 58 eyes from 32 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in this study. A macular-centered scan was conducted on each participant using a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) device. After speckle noise reduction, a state-of-the-art deep learning method (i.e., a context encoder network) was employed to segment the outer retinal layers from OCT B-scans. Thickness quantification of the outer retinal layers was conducted on the basis of the segmentation results.Results: WMH patients had significantly thinner Henle fiber layers, outer nuclear layers (HFL+ONL) and photoreceptor outer segments (OS) than HC (p = 0.031, and p = 0.005), while PD patients showed a significant increase of mean thickness in the interdigitation zone and the retinal pigment epithelium/Bruch complex (IZ+RPE) (19.619 ± 4.626) compared to HC (17.434 ± 1.664). There were no significant differences in the thickness of the outer plexiform layer (OPL), the myoid and ellipsoid zone (MEZ), and the IZ+RPE layer between WMH and HC subjects. Similarly, there were also no obvious differences in the thickness of the OPL, HFL+ONL, MEZ and the OS layer between PD and HC subjects.Conclusion: Thickness changes in HFL+ONL, OS, and IZ+RPE layers may correlate with brain-related diseases such as WMH and PD. Further longitudinal study is needed to confirm HFL+ONL/OS/IZ+RPE layer thickness as potential biomarkers for detecting certain brain-related diseases.

Retinal thickness changes in different subfields reflect the volume change of cerebral white matter hyperintensity

“…Nerve fibers in the nasal quadrant arrive at the optic disk directly. Nerve fibers in the temporal quadrant are bounded by horizontal meridians, which, respectively, curve around the macular fovea and reach the optic disk ( 10 ). Among healthy individuals, the retinal thickness in the nasal quadrant is the thickest and the temporal quadrant is the thinnest ( 48 ).…”

“…Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique based on low coherence interferometry that makes it possible to view high-resolution images of the retina in vivo . OCT system generates cross-sectional images of the retina that show the reflectivity information captured in depth by means of whiter or darker bands ( 10 ). RNFL is composed of ganglion cell axons that travel in bundles until the optic nerve.…”

“…They have the same properties in embryology, physiology, and morphology. First, the retina develops from the diencephalon during the embryonic stage ( 10 ). Next, given that ocular arteries descend from the internal carotid artery, the vessels of the retina have many anatomical and physiological traits in common with the vessels of the brain.…”

Advancing systemic disease diagnosis through ophthalmic image‐based artificial intelligence

“…In this study, 31 patients (56 eyes) with WMH, six PD patients (11 eyes), and 32 healthy controls (58 eyes) were included. The results suggested that HFL + ONL, OS, and IZ + RPE layers were potentially associated with brain‐related diseases 77 . The parameters generated by the segmentation of retinal microvasculature and nerve layers offer a promising approach for the analysis of various neurodegenerative diseases.…”

“…The results suggested that HFL + ONL, OS, and IZ + RPE layers were potentially associated with brain-related diseases. 77 The parameters generated by the segmentation of retinal microvasculature and nerve layers offer a promising approach for the analysis of various neurodegenerative diseases. End-to-end DL models based on large datasets are increasingly popular in the analysis of neurological diseases.…”