Retinal thickness measurements in sickle cell patients with HbSS and HbSC genotype

OBJECTIVE: Temporal macula thinning has been reported in sickle cell patients, but it remains unclear if there is a difference between HbSS and HbSC genotypes. We aimed to quantitatively compare macular thickness between eyes with HbSS and HbSC genotype. DESIGN: Retrospective descriptive study. METHODS: Consecutive patients seen over a 5.5-year period in the Ophthalmology Department at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, were identified. Macular optical coherence tomography images were retrospectively analyzed. The retinal thickness in all 9 subfields of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid was compared between HbSS and HbSC eyes. Right eyes and left eyes were analyzed independently, as well as averaged measurements from both eyes. Comparison was made between the 2 genotypes, adjusting for age and sex, and for multiple testing. Scans were excluded in cases of poor fixation or ocular comorbidity affecting retinal thickness. RESULTS: 132 HbSC and 120 HbSS patients were identified. Scans from 166 right and 153 left eyes were included (with approximately equal numbers of HbSS and HbSC genotypes). Mean retinal thickness was lower in HbSS eyes compared with HbSC eyes in all subfields of the ETDRS grid, but in most subfields the difference was <10 microns. Differences reached statistical significance for outer superior, inferior, and temporal subfields and the inner temporal subfield (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the HbSC genotype is more strongly associated with proliferative retinopathy, HbSS patients had on average more macular thinning.