Comparison of retinal neural network parameters of children and adolescents diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder with the healthy controls: A cross-sectional study

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder that often begins in childhood or adolescence and is associated with functional abnormalities in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits. Given the neurodevelopmental basis of OCD and the anatomical and physiological relationship between the retina and the central nervous system, recent studies have focused on investigating retinal changes in neuropsychiatric disorders using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). However, data on retinal structural changes in pediatric OCD populations are scant. The aim of this study was to investigate possible retinal structural differences in children and adolescents diagnosed with OCD by comparing OCT-derived measurements with healthy controls. This study compares the Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) thickness, Ganglion Cell Layer (GCL) volume, GCL thickness, Ganglion Cell Complex (GCC) thickness, and Central Macular Thickness (CMT) in pediatric 33 OCD patients and 45 healthy controls. A sociodemographic data form, Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Questionnaire (MOCI) and Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED) were applied. OCT imaging was performed to measure RNFL, GCL volume, GCL thickness, GCC thickness, and CMT. Results showed that the CMT was significantly lower in the OCD group compared to the healthy controls, while the GCC value was lower but not significantly different. No correlation was found between OCT measurements and scale scores. This study is the first to investigate these retinal measurements in pediatric OCD, suggesting a potential relationship that future studies should explore further.