Retinal layers measurements in healthy eyes and in eyes receiving silicone oil-based endotamponade

PURPOSE: To characterize the concordance/symmetry of each retinal layers in individuals without macular pathology and to further characterize the localization of inner retinal thinning in eyes receiving silicone oil-based endotamponade. METHODS: Retinal layers of one hundred eyes of 50 individuals without macular pathology were imaged using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and manually segmented using ImageJ software (developed by Wayne Rasband, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA). In the second part of the study, retrospective analysis of 3028 cases of pars plana vitrectomy in University Eye Hospital Cologne, Germany, was conducted, retrieving nine patients with silicone oil-based endotamponade with no macular condition interfering retinal layers measurements. These patients had retinal detachment not involving the macula due to various conditions. In these patients, retinal layer segmentation was performed and compared with the fellow eye. RESULTS: There is a moderate-to-high concordance for all retinal layers between the right and the left eye of the same individual. In eyes receiving silicone oil-based endotamponade, the inner retinal layers become subsequently thinner. Ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers contribute most to this thinning, that is, 0.537 ± 0.096 mm(3) compared with 0.742 ± 0.117 mm(3); p = 0.006. Outer retinal layers were not affected by silicone oil-based endotamponade (p = 0.439 for the differences of calculated outer retinal layers). CONCLUSION: Ganglion cell and inner retinal layers become subsequently thinner after the use of silicone oil-based endotamponade. This study advocates the use of spectral domain optical coherence tomography for patient management with silicone oil endotamponade to early detect subsequent retinal thinning.