Associated Factors and Distribution of Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Children by Optical Coherence Tomography: A Population-based Study

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the distribution of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and its association with different demographic and ocular parameters in adolescents.Methods: The present study is part of the second phase of the Shahroud Schoolchildren Eye cohort study, which was conducted in 2018 by reinviting the participants in the first phase. First, preliminary ocular examinations were performed, including measurement of uncorrected and best-corrected visual acuity, autorefraction, and subjective refraction. All study participants underwent corneal imaging using Pentacam to measure central corneal thickness and corneal radius of curvature (keratometry), ocular biometry using Allegro Biograph to measure anterior chamber depth, crystalline lens thickness, and axial length (AL), and finally optical coherence tomography imaging to measure RNFL thickness as well as macular thickness and volume.Results: The data of 4963 right eyes were analyzed after applying the exclusion criteria. The mean age of the study participants was 12.41 ± 1.72 (9 to 15) years. The mean total, superior, inferior,

Peripapillary RNFL cross-sectional area and its association with other parameters in a Chinese population

“…No correlation was found between peripapillary RNFL cross-sectional area and axial length or refractive error. Previous studies have determined the RNFL to become thinner with increasing axial length [ 9 , 10 , 25 , 26 ] but this relationship is thought to be due to ocular magnification. Adjustment for ocular magnification has been found to remove the correlation of RNFL thickness with axial length in numerous recent studies [ 9 , 10 , 14 , 25 , 26 ], consistent with the findings of the present study.…”

“…Previous studies have determined the RNFL to become thinner with increasing axial length [ 9 , 10 , 25 , 26 ] but this relationship is thought to be due to ocular magnification. Adjustment for ocular magnification has been found to remove the correlation of RNFL thickness with axial length in numerous recent studies [ 9 , 10 , 14 , 25 , 26 ], consistent with the findings of the present study. RNFL thickness measurements after adjustment for ocular magnification allow a more accurate quantitative assessment of retinal nerve fibers.…”

“…However, another influential factor is ocular magnification. The impact of ocular magnification on RNFL thickness measurements has been the subject of frequent previous discussion [ 9 , 10 , 25 , 26 ] and optic disc area measurements are also affected by ocular magnification. However, ocular magnification was not corrected in the studies cited above.…”

“…We have previously shown that RNFL cross-sectional area and ocular magnification adjusted RNFL thickness have a similar significance for the quantitative evaluation of RNFL [ 27 ]. The optic disc area was measured from color fundus photographs and ocular magnification was corrected according to Littmann’s method [ 26 ]. By contrast with the results of David Huang et al, we found peripapillary RNFL cross-sectional area to increase with the increase in optic disc area.…”