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Increased foveal thickness, functional vision loss correlated
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Increased foveal thickness correlates with loss of vision as measured on multifocal electroretinography, according to a study.
Kristina Holm, MD, and colleagues at Lund University Hospital in Sweden used optical coherence tomography (OCT) and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) to study the relationship between foveal thickness and function in 26 eyes of 18 patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy.
Patients averaged 59 years of age and had diabetes for a mean duration of 15 years. Macular thickness ranged from 200 µm to 600 µm, and no patients had previous laser treatment.
Investigators analyzed the mean amplitudes and implicit times of the mfERG within the four innermost of six concentric rings and compared these with corresponding zones on OCT within an area 6 mm in diameter, according to the study.
The researchers found that increased macular thickness in the central area of OCT correlated to reduced amplitudes (P = .004) and prolonged implicit times (P = .004) in the central zone of mfERG as well as with lower visual acuity, according to the study.
"When macular thickness exceeded 300 µm, the decrease of amplitudes and prolonged implicit times, measured by mfERG, seemed to be more pronounced," the authors said.
Investigators also found a correlation between increased retinal thickness in the second area on OCT and prolonged implicit times in the second mfERG zone, but not for the third area on OCT, the authors noted.
The study is published in the May issue of Documenta Ophthalmologica.