J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2008 Jan;49(1):98-103. 10.3341/jkos.2008.49.1.98.

Factors Mediating Effects on the Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Normal Children

• Cho YK
• Lee YC
• Lee SY

• KMID: 2211188
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2008.49.1.98

Abstract

PURPOSE: The peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL) was measured in normal children using optical coherence tomography (OCT), and the effect of various factors on the RNFL thickness was examined.
METHODS
From April 2006 to January 2007, the RNFL thickness of 74 normal children (148 eyes) between the ages of 4 and 17 years old was measured by OCT, and the effect of factors such as age, gender, refractive error, C/D ratios, cooperation, and laterality on the peripapillary RNFL thickness was analyzed.
RESULTS
The mean age of the patients was 10.2 years (4~17 years), and the mean peripapillary RNFL thickness was 106.3+/-12.8 micrometer. As to the thickness of the different peripapillary locations, the superior side was thickest (135.3+/-20.6 micrometer), followed in order by the inferior side (130.9+/-23.0 micrometer), the temporal side (86.3+/-18.9 micrometer), and the nasal side (71.9+/-20.8 micrometer). The refractive error was correlated positively with RNFL thickness (r=0.277, p=0.001), and age correlated negatively with RNFL thickness (r=-0.194, p=0.018).
CONCLUSIONS
RNFL thickness in normal children increases as the refractive error becomes hyperopic and decreases with age. The data about RNFL thickness of normal children obtained in this study may provide useful information for an early diagnosis of pediatric neuroophthalmologic disease and for monitoring its progression.

Keyword

Normal children; Optical coherence tomography; Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness

MeSH Terms

Child
Early Diagnosis
Humans
Negotiating
Nerve Fibers
Refractive Errors
Retinaldehyde
Tomography, Optical Coherence
Retinaldehyde

Figure

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  Figure 1. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal children as peripapillary location. Mean (blue dot), standard deviation (whiskers), highest and lowest balues (white dot) are shown.

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  Figure 2. Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness as function of age (r=-0.194, p=0.018).

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  Figure 3. Average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness as function of refraction (r=0.277, p=0.001).

Reference

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