Study On The Influence Factors Of The Retinal Average Thickness Of The Posterior Pole And The Volume Of The Macular Intraretinal Layers In Normal Subjects Measured By OCT

Background and ObjectiveThe retina is an important tissue of the eye,and many retinal diseases damage visual acuity seriously.The optical coherence tomography can help us to make quantitative analysis of the retina,to diagnose disease and to determine the prognosis of disease accurately.It is reported that the thickness of the retina in macula is affected by age,sex and the axial length and that to be taken into consideration importantly when analyzing the effects of disease on the retina.These studies focus on the macular thickness,smaller than the posterior polar region and the analysis about various layers of the retinal structure is uncommon.Therefore,our research will determine the effect of age,gender,axial length on the volume of each retinal layer in the macula and the thickness of the posterior pole of the retina with OCT in normal people.Methods92 healthy individuals(134 eyes)selected randomly from the healthy population(132people)in the department of ophthalmology of Tongling People’s Hospital.They were divided into three age groups,7-14 years group,15-49 years group,50-80 years group based on age,or two groups based on gender.All ophthalmology routine inspections were completed by the same physician,including OCT retinal scanning,axial length measurement.The macular and posterior pole of the retina were scanned under the posterior pole mode with OCT.Selected the thickness of 8*8 posterior pole of the retina and the macular intraretinal layers volume of 6 mm diameter circle area with the macular fovea center in thickness map using software.The volume of the macular intraretinal layers and the thickness of the retinal posterior pole between the two groups were using t-Test,and between the three age groups using One-Way ANOVA method.The correlation between axial length and the volume of the macular intraretinal layers and the thickness of the retinal posterior pole were analyzed by linear correlation and partial correlation.Results(1)The thickness of the superior,inferior and the average of the posterior pole of the retina in males were(297±13),(295±12)and(296±12)μm,which were significantly thicker in comparison with(291±13),(290±14),(290±13)μm in females(P=0.013、0.044、0.025);The volume values of the whole retina layer(WRL),retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL),inner nuclear layer(INL),outer plexiform layer(OPL)of the macular in males were(8.80±0.38),(0.92±0.09)and(1.03±0.07),(0.79±0.07)mm~3,which were significantly increased in comparison with(8.66±0.34),(0.88±0.07),(1.00±0.07)and(0.77±0.06)mm~3 in females(P=0.025、0.027,0.012,0.030).(2)The thickness of the superior,inferior and the average of the posterior pole of the retina were significantly lower in the 7-14 years group and 50-80 years group than those in the 15-49 years group(all at P<0.01).The WRL,ganglion cell layer(GCL),and inner plexiform layer(IPL)volume values were largest in the 15-49 years group and least in the 7-14 years group,and the volume values of RNFL,outer nuclear layer(ONL),retinal pigment epithelium(RPE)and photoreceptors(PC)were significantly lower in the 7-14 years group and 50-80 years group than those in the 15-49 years group(all at P<0.01).(3)The thickness of the superior,inferior and the average of the posterior pole of the retina showed statistical significant negative partial correlation(r=-0.191,-0.209,-0.194;P=0.028,0.016,0.026)with axial length.The volume of the WRL,GCL and IPL of the macular showed statistical significant negative correlation(r=-0.193,-0.338,-0.336;P=0.038,0.000,0.000)and negative partial correlation(r=-0.226,-0.385,-0.373;P=0.016,0.000,0.000)with axial length.Conclusion(1)The average thickness of the retinal posterior pole and the macular volume of the WRL,RNFL,INL and OPL are lower in female than in male.(2)The average thickness of the retinal posterior pole and the macular volume of the WRL,RNFL,GCL,IPL,ONL,RPE and PC show variations by age,Growing from childhood to adulthood and then declining in old age due to aging.(3)The increase of the axial length results in the decrease of the average retinal thickness of the posterior polar,and the macular volume of WRL,GCL,IPL.Sex,age,axial length,affect the average retinal thickness of the posterior pole and the volume of the different intraretinal layer.These findings should be taken into account when we are analyzing the effects of disease on the retinal thickness.