Multicenter Spanish study of spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography in normal children

• Published in: Acta ophthalmologica (Oxford, England) Vol. 91; no. 1; pp. e56 - e63
• Main Authors: Barrio‐Barrio, Jesús, Noval, Susana, Galdós, Marta, Ruiz‐Canela, Miguel, Bonet, Elvira, Capote, María, Lopez, Maialen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2013; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Distribution; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Cross-Sectional Studies; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Humans; Macula Lutea - anatomy & histology; macular thickness; Male; Medical research; Multivariate analysis; Nerve Fibers; Ophthalmology; optical coherence tomography; Reference Values; Retinal Ganglion Cells - cytology; retinal nerve fibre layer; Sex Distribution; Spain; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Spain
• ISSN: 1755-375X; 1755-3768
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2012.02562.x

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Purpose:  To compile a multicenter normative database of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) and macular thicknesses and macular volume values in healthy Caucasian children 4–17 years using spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT). To analyse variations in the OCT measurements as a function of age, sex, refraction, and axial length (AL).
Methods:  An observational, multicenter and cross‐sectional study among 301 healthy Caucasian children recruited at three Spanish centres was performed. To compile the database, each child underwent a dilated eye examination and a cycloplegic refraction, five AL measurements (IOL Master; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA, USA), five OCT scans with Cirrus OCT: three peripapillary RNFL scans (Optic Disc Cube 200X200 protocol) and two macular scans (Macular Cube 512X128 protocol). One eye of each subject was selected randomly for analysis.
Results:  Two hundred eighty‐three children (117 boys, 41.34%; 166 girls, 58.66%) were included in this study. The mean age of the children was 9.58 ± 3.12 years (range, 4–17). The mean SE was +0.63 ± 1.65 D; (range, −4.88 to +5.25). The mean AL was 22.94 ± 1.10 mm (range, 20.10–26.27). The mean global RNFL thickness was 97.40 ± 9.0 μm (range, 77–121.7 μm). Multivariate analysis showed a positive correlation between the RNFL and spherical equivalent (SE) (p = 0.014). The mean central macular thickness was 253.85 ± 19.76 μm, the average thickness 283.62 ± 14.08 μm, and the mean macular volume 10.22 ± 0.49 μm3. Multivariate analysis showed a positive correlation between central macular thickness and age (p < 0.001). Boys had a significantly thicker central macula than girls (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:  Normative paediatric SD‐OCT data might facilitate use of SD‐OCT for assessing childhood ophthalmic diseases. This study provides a multicenter paediatric normative database of SD‐OCT peripapillary RNFL and macular data.