Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness Increases with Decreasing Spectralis OCT Signal Strength in Normal Eyes

Margaret R Strampe; Luai Eldweik; Benjamin C Chaon; Sarah Maki; Tyler Wieland; Celine Satija; Collin McClelland; Michael S Lee

doi:10.1080/01658107.2019.1653934

Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness Increases with Decreasing Spectralis OCT Signal Strength in Normal Eyes

Neuroophthalmology. 2019 Oct 29;44(2):100-103. doi: 10.1080/01658107.2019.1653934. eCollection 2020 Apr.

Authors

Margaret R Strampe¹, Luai Eldweik², Benjamin C Chaon³, Sarah Maki¹, Tyler Wieland¹, Celine Satija¹, Collin McClelland¹, Michael S Lee¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
² The Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
³ Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Abstract

We sought to determine effect of signal strength on mean retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) using Spectralis optical coherence tomography (S-OCT). Thirty normal subjects (18 female, mean 37.9 years, range 24-61) were imaged with S-OCT using variably dense Bangerter foils to alter Q value (1 unit signal strength = 4 units Q). We found a statistically significant (p < 0.01) linear relationship (R = 0.8643) between Q and RNFL (1 unit decrease Q = 0.181 um mean RNFL increase). Unlike previous observations of Cirrus and Stratus OCT, we found RNFL thickness does not decrease with decreasing signal strength in S-OCT.

Keywords: OCT; RNFL; Retinal nerve fiber layer; Spectralis; optical coherence tomography; signal strength.