Retinal thickness profiles in patients with Behçet uveitis during remission

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intraretinal layer thickness in the macular region and its correlation with the duration of uveitis and visual acuity in patients with Behçet uveitis. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included 93 eyes of 57 patients with Behçet uveitis and 100 eyes of 50 healthy individuals admitted to a tertiary center from January to September 2017. We performed macular measurements in all subjects via spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and divided the retina into layers using automated segmentation software on the SD-OCT device. We then compared layer thicknesses between the patient and control groups and evaluated the correlation between OCT parameters and the duration of uveitis and visual acuity in the patient group. Results: Our records show a mean age of 37.9 ± 10.8 (18-64) years and 37.7 ± 12.2 (21-61) years in the patient and control groups (p=0.821), respectively. Meanwhile, data reveal a mean duration of uveitis of 6.9 ± 4.7 (1-20) years. We found a reduction in the total outer layer thickness in the patient group (p<0.001). However, we did not find a statistically significant difference in the inner retinal layers except in the inner nuclear layer. The duration of uveitis negatively correlated with the outer retinal layer’s thickness (correlation coefficient = -0.250). On the other hand, visual acuity positively correlated with the central macular, the total inner layer, and the outer retinal layer thicknesses (correlation coefficients: 0.194, 0.154, and 0.364, respectively). However, the inner nuclear layer negatively correlated with visual acuity. Conclusions: Using retinal segmentation via SD-OCT for follow-ups can help estimate visual loss in patients with Behçet uveitis, which can cause significant changes in intraretinal layers in the macular region.

摘要
目的：本研究旨在评估白塞病葡萄膜炎患者黄斑区视网膜各层厚度，及其与葡萄膜炎病程与视力的相关性。
方法：本研究为横断面研究，纳入2017年1月至9月于某三级医疗中心就诊的57例白塞病葡萄膜炎患者的93只眼，以及50名健康受试者的100只眼。所有受试者均通过光谱域光学相干断层扫描（spectral domain-optical coherence tomography，SD-OCT）进行黄斑区检测，并借助SD-OCT设备自带的自动分割软件将视网膜分层。随后比较患者组与对照组的视网膜各层厚度差异，并分析患者组中OCT参数与葡萄膜炎病程及视力的相关性。
结果：本研究中，患者组与对照组的平均年龄分别为37.9±10.8岁（范围18~64岁）与37.7±12.2岁（范围21~61岁），组间差异无统计学意义（p=0.821）。患者组的葡萄膜炎平均病程为6.9±4.7年（范围1~20年）。研究发现，患者组的视网膜外层总厚度显著降低（p<0.001）；除内核层外，其余视网膜内层厚度组间差异均无统计学意义。葡萄膜炎病程与视网膜外层厚度呈负相关（相关系数=-0.250）。视力则与黄斑中心区、视网膜内层总厚度及视网膜外层厚度呈正相关（相关系数分别为0.194、0.154与0.364），但内核层厚度与视力呈负相关。
结论：通过光谱域光学相干断层扫描（SD-OCT）进行视网膜分层检测用于随访，可辅助评估白塞病葡萄膜炎患者的视力损失情况；该疾病可导致黄斑区视网膜各层发生显著改变。