Evaluation of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients of pituitary adenomas with and without optic chiasmal compression

Abstract

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated loss of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness in patients with chiasmal compression using optical coherence tomography (OCT).This study aimed to evaluate the cpRNFL and ganglion cell compound (GCC) thicknesses in patients suffering pituitary tumors with and without chiasmal compression.Methods: forty-four patients with pituitary adenoma (PA) (twenty-one without chiasmal compression and twenty-three with chiasmal compression) and eighteen controls were enrolled. cpRNFL and GCC thickness were measured in both patients and controls by SD-OCT.Results: three groups (PAs with optic chiasmal compression, PAs without optic chiasmal compression and controls) were closely matched in terms of mean age, sex and IOP (p=0.173, p=0.184 and

Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and its correlation with visual symptoms and radiological features in pituitary macroadenoma

“…SD-OCT provides cross-sectional imaging of the retinal layers and helps to analyze the thickness of RNFL and the granular cell layer thickness Ganglion cell complex. [ 17 - 19 ] Pituitary adenomas and other suprasellar tumors produce thinning of the RNFL probably due to their compressive effect on the optic chiasma. Pre-operative RNFL thickness is reported to be an important prognostic factor to predict visual recovery following surgery.…”

“…[22,23] inning of the RNFL generally correlates directly with visual deficits and the extent of chiasmal compression. [17][18][19] However, this correlation between RNFL thinning, suprasellar extension, chiasmal compression, and visual function is not absolute. Patients with normal-to-mild visual deficits may have RNFL thinning and RNFL may be normal in patients with severe visual deficits.…”

“…[20,26] Although the loss of RNFL is more severe in patients with chiasmal compression, it has been reported that pituitary tumors without optic chiasm compression can also cause thinning of RNFL. [19] is discrepancy is probably because the exact mechanism of RNFL thinning is unknown. RNFL thinning is variably attributed to axoplasmic flow disorder, demyelination, [27][28][29][30] ischemic damage, [31][32][33] changes in metabolites, trophic factors, or proteases associated with an adenoma.…”