Assessment of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in healthy, full-term neonates.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

PURPOSE: To measure average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses in healthy, full-term neonates. DESIGN: Descriptive research to develop normative data. METHODS: Healthy infants born between 37 and 42 weeks postmenstrual age were imaged with hand-held spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. A custom script segmented the RNFL; the fovea and optic nerve center were manually selected. A second script measured the average RNFL thickness along the papillomacular bundle, defined as the arc from -15 degrees to +15 degrees on the axis from the optic nerve to fovea, with radii of 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, and 1.7 mm from the center of the optic disc. Shapiro-Wilk W tests assessed these measurements for normality to determine the age-appropriate radial distance for subsequent analyses. Average RNFL thicknesses for four temporal 45-degree sectors (superior temporal, temporal superior, temporal inferior, and inferior temporal) and the temporal quadrant were calculated and compared to demographic parameters for all infants. RESULTS: Fifty full-term infants were adequately imaged for RNFL analysis. RNFL thicknesses at 1.5 mm radial distance from the optic nerve were the most normally distributed. While there was a trend toward greater mean superior temporal RNFL thickness for both black and Hispanic vs white infants (128 ± 27 μm, 124 ± 30 μm, and 100 ± 19 μm, respectively, P = .04 for both comparisons), there were no other significant differences noted in RNFL thicknesses by race, sex, gestational age, or birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: We present RNFL thickness measurements for healthy, full-term infants that may serve as normative data for future analyses.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Rothman, AL; Sevilla, MB; Freedman, SF; Tong, AY; Tai, V; Tran-Viet, D; Farsiu, S; Toth, CA; El-Dairi, MA

Published Date

  • April 2015

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 159 / 4

Start / End Page

  • 803 - 811

PubMed ID

  • 25634528

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC4570498

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1879-1891

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.ajo.2015.01.017

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States