Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measured by optical coherence tomography in non-glaucomatous Taiwanese.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Assessment of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is essential for neuroretinal diseases, especially for early prediction of glaucomatous damage. The purpose of this study was to measure RNFL thickness by Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT) in normal Taiwanese subjects according to age group.

METHODS

The thickness of the RNFL around the disc of normal subjects was obtained, after pupil dilation, by means of 3.4 mm diameter fast mode circle OCT scan. Data for one randomly selected eye of each subject were used for statistical analysis. Differences in RNFL thickness were determined by ANOVA.

RESULTS

A total of 162 participants were evaluated: 61 male and 101 female, with mean age of 41.3 +/- 20 years (range, 6-74 years). Mean RNFL thickness was 108.7 +/- 9.4 micrometers (range, 85.5-133.7 micrometers). The RNFL was thickest in the inferior (135.8 +/- 16.3 micrometers) and superior (133.9 +/- 18.0 micrometers) quadrants, followed by the nasal (82.6 +/- 16.0 micrometers) and temporal (82.4 +/- 17.8 micrometers) quadrants (F = 551.9, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

RNFL thickness was determined by OCT for a normal Taiwanese population aged 6-74 years. The normative data from this study may offer valuable information to enable comparisons of ocular diseases involving RNFL across different populations.