Choroidal and retinal thickness variations in ocular albinism

Abstract

Purpose: To study the retinal and choroidal thickness variations on enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography scans in ocular albinism (OA) and compare with age-matched healthy subjects. Methods: This retrospective observational study had 48 eyes of 24 patients diagnosed clinically as OA and age, sex, and axial length-matched control healthy subjects. All patients underwent detailed ophthalmic examination and a single-line horizontal-raster enhanced depth imaging – optical coherence tomography scan (Spectralis, Heidelberg Engineering). Retinal and choroidal thickness was measured, compared, and analyzed between the two groups. Mann–Whitney U test was used for analysis between the two groups. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean age was 28.3 ± 11.6 and 29.9 ± 10.6 years in the OA group and control group, respectively. Spherical equivalents ranged from −8.5D to +10.5D in the OA group and from −8.0D to +10.0D in the control group. The mean axial length between the two groups ( P = 0.652) were comparable. The average retinal thickness (272 ± 34.3 vs. 213 ± 13.8 mm; P < 0.001) was greater in the OA group as compared to controls. The mean choroidal thickness (184 ± 78.4 vs. 287 ± 46.4 mm; P < 0.001) was significantly thinner in the OA group. Conclusion: Acquisition of OCT scans in OA can be challenging. This study showed that the subfoveal retinal thickness and choroidal thickness measured across the scans were significantly different in the OA group compared to controls. In the future, more studies are required to evaluate the role of the choroid and its relationship to emmetropization in albinism.

Comments on

“…We read with great interest the article by Venkatesh et al . titled “Choroidal and retinal thickness variations in ocular albinism.”[ 1 ] We congratulate the authors for their remarkable contribution to this research because albinism is a congenital disease that involves skin, hair, and eyes. But to date, there are no effective therapies for the eye’s manifestations; therefore, any investigation about this condition could be very significant.…”

“…Moreover, in the “Methods” section, the authors described their measurement technique like lines “from the outer border of the retinal pigment epithelium to the inner border of the sclera.”[ 1 ] However, the literature agrees that choroidal thickness measurements should be taken drawing all lines perpendicularly to retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to obtain comparable and reliable data, but this kind of methodology is not respected in Fig. 1, and we wonder why the authors decided to use this kind of method.…”

Response to comments on

“…We read with great interest the authors’ reply to our research paper on retinal and choroidal thickness variations in eyes with ocular albinism. [ 1 , 2 ] Albinism is a genetic disease characterized by hair, skin, and eye hypopigmentation. [ 3 ] In addition to high refractive errors, iris and fundus hypopigmentation, and optic nerve misdirection, eyes with ocular albinism have foveal hypoplasia, nystagmus, and poor vision.…”