Ganglion cell complex thickness in nonexudative age-related macular degeneration

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness with spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in eyes with nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (NEAMD). Methods Forty-seven eyes of 28 patients with nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (NEAMD) and 54 eyes of 28 age-matched healthy subjects were enrolled. Each subject underwent a complete ophthalmic examination before SD-OCT were obtained. Macular scans were taken with software version 6.0 of the ganglion cell analysis (GCA) algorithm. GCC thickness was evaluated automatically as the average, minimum, temporal superior, superior, nasal superior, nasal inferior, inferior, and temporal-inferior segments by SD-OCT and parameters were compared between groups. Results The mean age was 68.7 ± 8.73 years in patient group, and 61.51 ± 5.66 years in control group. There were no significant differences in mean age, gender distribution, intraocular pressure, and sferic equivalent at imaging between the groups (P40.05). The mean (± SD) GCC thicknesses were as follows; average 71.53 ±16.53 μm, minumum 62.36 ± 21.51 μm, temporal superior 72.23 ± 14.60 μm, superior 72.76 ± 20.40 μm, nasal superior 72.31 ± 20.13 μm, nasal inferior 69.74 ± 20.51 μm, inferior 69.38 ± 19.03 μm, and temporal-inferior 73.12 ± 15.44 μm in patient group. Corresponding values in control group were 81.46 ± 4.90 μm, 78.66 ± 6.00 μm, 81.51 ± 4.66 μm, 82.94 ± 5.14 μm, 81.79 ± 5.86 μm, 80.94 ± 6.18 μm, 80.14 ± 6.30 μm, and 81.75 ± 5.26 μm, respectively. There were significant differences between two groups in each segments (Mann-Whitney U-test, Po0.05). Conclusion The average GCC thickness values (in all segments) of NEAMD patients were lower than control group. NEAMD, which is considered as a disease of outer layers of retina, may be accompanied with a decrease of ganglion cell thickness, so inner layers of retina may be affected.

Ganglion Cell Complex in Early and Intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Evidence by SD-OCT Manual Segmentation

“…A reduction in GCC thickness has been associated with several pathologies such as glaucoma [35] or retrograde neural lesions [42] , but there is little knowledge about its relation to AMD, where the outer layers are traditionally studied. This study was important for demonstrating a possible association between decreased GCC and early/ intermediate AMD when compared with a control group.…”

“…This study was important for demonstrating a possible association between decreased GCC and early/ intermediate AMD when compared with a control group. In the future, the GCC may have an important role in the description of inner retinal changes and in the monitoring of early/intermediate AMD, or in following up patients who failed to improve their VA during treatment [35] . It would be useful to study the GCC's susceptibility to early/intermediate AMD [35] .…”

“…Recent studies have indicated the possibility of changes in the internal layer in the early stages of AMD [21] as well as in the GCL and GCC [34,35] . To understand the structures or locations in formations/configurations of interest, we manually evaluated GCL and GCC thickness in subjects with early/intermediate AMD at 12 locations in the horizontal meridian by SD-OCT, and we discovered thickness values close to the ones presented in other studies.…”

Loosely coupled level sets for retinal layers and drusen segmentation in subjects with dry age-related macular degeneration

“…Examples of possible applications, such as drusen height and a thickness map of the ganglion cell complex (GCC; the combination of the RNFL, the GCL and the IPL) are shown in Figure 4. Drusen volume was shown to correlate with retinal sensitivity 8 , whereas the GCC layer was shown to have a reduced thickness in eyes affected by AMD 4 . These maps were created by measuring the distance along every A-line between the RPE posterior boundary and Bruch's membrane and between the vitreous-RNFL interface and the GCL+IPL -INL interface, for drusen height and GCC thickness, respectively.…”

“…In dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common sight-threatening disease with an increasing prevalence due to the aging population 2 , several changes in the retina occur. First, the inner 3,4 , outer 5 and total 6 retinal thicknesses change. Second, drusen (extracellular deposits) occur between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Bruch's membrane 7,8 .…”