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. 1997 May;81(5):350–354. doi: 10.1136/bjo.81.5.350

Variation of nerve fibre layer thickness measurements with age and ethnicity by scanning laser polarimetry

D Poinoosawmy 1, L Fontana 1, J Wu 1, F Fitzke 1, R Hitchings 1
PMCID: PMC1722182  PMID: 9227197

Abstract

AIMS—Scanning laser polarimetry is a new technique allowing quantitative analysis of the retinal nerve fibre layer in vivo. This technique was employed to investigate the variation of the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in a group of normal subjects of different ages and ethnic groups.
METHODS—150 normal volunteers of different ages and ethnic groups were recruited for this study. Three consecutive 15 degree polarimetric maps were acquired for each subjects. Nerve fibre layer thickness measurements were obtained at 1.5 disc diameters from the optic nerve. Four 90 degree quadrants were identified.
RESULTS—The mean nerve fibre layer thickness varied from a minimum of 55.4 µm to a maximum of 105.3 µm, with a mean thickness value of 78.2 (SD 10.6) µm. Superior and inferior quadrants showed a comparatively thicker nerve fibre layer than nasal and temporal quadrants. Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness is inversely correlated with age (p < 0.001). White people showed thicker nerve fibre layers than Afro-Caribbeans (p = 0.002).
CONCLUSION—The results indicate a progressive reduction of the nerve fibre layer thickness with increasing age. This may be due to a progressive loss of ganglion axons with age as suggested in postmortem studies. A racial difference in nerve fibre layer thickness is present between whites and Afro-Caribbeans.



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Figure 1  .

Figure 1  

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Fifteen degree retardation map of the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness of the right eye of a 35 year old subject. In the grey scale image thicker parts of retinal nerve fibre layer are indicated with lighter shades and thinner parts with darker shades. A circle band of 10 pixels width is centred around the optic disc at 1.5 disc diameter distance. The topographic map is divided in four 90 degree quadrants. Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness is measured within the circle band.

Figure 2  .

Figure 2  

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Linear regression analysis of the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness and age. R = 0.5938, R2 = 0.3526, SE 8.59324, p = <0.001, n = 150. The analysis indicates a retinal nerve fibre layer thickness decay of 0.38 µm/year.

Figure 3  .

Figure 3  

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Mean retinal nerve fibre layer thickness by quadrants for the different age groups.

Figure 4  .

Figure 4  

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Linear regression analysis of the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness and age for white and Afro-Caribbean groups. R = 0.6499, R2 = 0.4224, SE 8.20026, p < 0.001, n = 59 for whites and R = 0.7588, R2 = 0.5758, SE 6.37953, p < 0.001, n = 51 for Afro-Caribbeans.

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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