Swept-source optical coherence tomography imaging of macular retinal and choroidal structures in healthy eyes

BACKGROUND: To report the thickness of the retina, retinal ganglion cell (RGC)-related layers, and choroid in healthy subjects using swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). METHODS: One hundred and forty-six healthy volunteers were consecutively recruited for this prospective observational study. Thickness of retina, RGC-related layers, and choroid in the standard early treatment of diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) grid were automatically measured using one SS-OCT (DRI OCT-1, Topcon, Japan). The IOL Master (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Germany) was used to measure axial length (AL). RESULTS: Thicknesses of the average macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) were 105.3 ± 9.7 and 78.5 ± 6.2 um respectively. Neither of them was significantly related with sex, age, or AL. Both showed strong correlations with retinal thickness (r = 0.793, p = 0.000; r = 0.813, p = 0.000, respectively) and with similar topographic distributions within the retina. The thicknesses of retina and GCC/GCIPL in the inner sectors were significantly higher than in the outer sectors of the EDTRS area, while in the same region of the macula, the choroid exhibited completely different patterns of topographic variation. Men had 7.8 um thicker retina and 34.9 um thicker choroid than women after adjustment for age and AL (all p < 0.05). Age and AL could significantly influence the choroidal thickness but not the retina (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Thickness of GCC/GCIPL in healthy Chinese individuals is not dramatically different across gender, age, and AL groups in terms of ETDRS grid, but sex is critical for retinal and choroidal thickness. Choroidal structure (but not retinal) can be significantly influenced by age and AL. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12886-015-0110-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.