PLoS ONE (Jan 2018)

The relationship between age, axial length and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in the normal elderly population in Taiwan: The Chiayi eye study in Taiwan.

  • Chau-Yin Chen,
  • Evelyn Jou-Chen Huang,
  • Chien-Neng Kuo,
  • Pei-Lun Wu,
  • Ching-Lung Chen,
  • Pei-Chen Wu,
  • Shin-Hua Wu,
  • Yin-Chi King,
  • Chien-Hsiung Lai

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194116
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 3
p. e0194116

Abstract

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To interpret how the thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) changes with increasing age, axial length, or anterior chamber depth as measured by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the normal elderly population in Taiwan.A total of 82 volunteers (143 eyes) were enrolled. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the correlation.The RNFL was significantly thinner in the superonasal (p = 0.004), inferotemporal (p = 0.046), and temporolower (p = 0.009) segments with age. The same trend was also observed in the superotemporal (p = 0.330) segment, although it was not statistically significant. The global RNFL thickness decreased by 4.97 μm per decade (β = -0.497; p = 0.021), and thinning was significant in the superonasal (-9.90 μm per decade, p < 0.001) and temporolower (-6.78 μm per decade, p < 0.001) segments; the same trend showed borderline significance in the superotemporal (-6.96 μm per decade, p = 0.073) and inferotemporal (-7.23 μm per decade, p = 0.059) segments. In eyes with longer axial length, the RNFLs significantly decreased in the non-temporal segments. Global RNFL thickness decreased by 3.086 μm for each additional millimeter of axial length (β = -3.086; p < 0.001).Changes in RNFL thickness were correlated with age in the superonasal, superotemporal, inferotemporal, and temporolower segments, and were correlated with axial length in the non-temporal segments. Anterior chamber depth was not correlated with RNFL thickness.