Assessment of the retinal ganglion cell layer in patients with axial hypermetropia

Purpose. To investigate the influence of the axial length of the eyes with hypermetropia on the average ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness and to develop methods for correcting this effect. Material and methods. The study involved 183 patients (183 eyes) over the age of 40 years, 48 patients (48 eyes) with hypermetropia (axial length <22 mm) and 139 healthy subjects (139 eyes) of the same sex and age with axial length 22.5–24.5 mm (control group). Part of the control group (80 people) was examined earlier. Optical coherence tomography was performed on a Cirrus HD-OCT device (Carl Zeiss Meditec). Results. The average GCIPL thickness in the main group was 83.42±6.50 (from 71 to 99) µм and was higher than in the control group, where it was 80.39±5.91 (from 68 to 98) µm (p=0.004). In the control group normative data for the average GCIPL thickness were determined. For eyes with the axial length 20–22 mm corrections for calculating the equivalent average GCIPL thickness in emmetropic eyes have been developed, allowing comparison with the normative data. Conclusion. An original technique for assessing the average GCIPL thickness in patients with hypermetropia with axial length 20–22 mm, adapted to the Cirrus HD-OCT device, was developed. For this device, the normative database of healthy persons with emmetropia at the age of 41–80 years has been supplemented. Key words: optical coherence tomography, hypermetropia, ganglion cell layer, inner plexiform layer, normative data