Thicknesses of Macular Inner Retinal Layers in Children with Anisometropic Amblyopia

Abstract

Objective. To investigate the thicknesses of macular inner retinal layers in children with anisometropic amblyopia using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods. Thirty-seven children with anisometropic amblyopia and fifty-seven children with normal vision were recruited in the study. Both eyes of children with anisometropic amblyopia and the right eyes of normal controls underwent scanning with the Spectralis OCT. The segmentation of retinal layers was performed automatically to measure individual inner retinal layers in the five sectors of the macular. An independent sample t -test was applied to compare the mean layer thicknesses of anisometropic eyes and fellow eyes with those of control eyes. Results. There was no significant difference in the total macular thickness between amblyopic and control eyes. However, in the peripheral macular area, three of the four quadrants of both the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and the inner plexiform layer (IPL) thicknesses were significantly reduced in amblyopic eyes compared to control eyes. Moreover, two of the four quadrants of the GCL thickness and three of the four quadrants of the IPL thickness in the peripheral macular area were significantly reduced in fellow eyes than in control eyes. Conclusion. The SD-OCT data revealed differences in the thicknesses of some macular inner retinal layers in both eyes of children with anisometropic amblyopia compared with those with emmetropia, indicating that structural changes might exist in the retina of children with amblyopia.

Short-Term Morpho-Functional Changes before and after Strabismus Surgery in Children Using Structural Optical Coherence Tomography: A Pilot Study

“…In a study conducted by Park et al [ 28 ], wherein the thickness of each retinal layer was measured, significant thinning of the mGCIPL was observed in eyes with various types of visual impairment, including cases of strabismus, aniso-astigmatism, and unilateral ptosis. This finding is consistent with the results of Xia et al [ 29 ], who conducted an analysis of anisometropic amblyopia and identified a significant reduction in the thickness of two out of the three GCL quadrants and three out of the four IPL quadrants in the peripheral macular area compared to the control group.…”

Evaluation of Macular Ganglion Cell-Inner Plexiform Layer in Children with Deprivational Amblyopia Who Underwent Unilateral Cataract Surgery

“…On the contrary, Guagliano et al [ 30 ] detected no differences between GCC thickness in amblyopic, fellow and control eyes. However, it should be kept in mind that the GCC includes the GCL, IPL and RNFL, and studies on the thickness of the latter in visually impaired eyes also remain contradictory [ 17 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], making it difficult to relate the increased data to our results.…”

“…In addition, it was shown that some of the layers examined were thicker in certain areas of the macula and thinner in others, which may suggest that different pathological changes occur in different areas of the macula. Xia et al [ 28 ] analyzed anisometropic amblyopia and found that the thickness of 2 of the 3 GCL quadrants and 3 of the 4 IPL quadrants in the peripheral macular area studied were significantly reduced compared to the control group.…”

“…On the other hand, with the development of optical coherence tomography (OCT), correlations between vision loss and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macular thickness, changes in retinal layering or retinal vascular structure became apparent. Nevertheless, the results of presented studies often remain contradictory [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. In addition, there are few works evaluating changes in retinal layer structure under the influence of sensory deprivation after congenital or developmental cataract surgery [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 22 , 26 ].…”