Macular Retinal Ganglion Cell Layer Thickness Is Not Reduced in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

PURPOSE: To evaluate macular ganglion cell layer (GCL) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thicknesses in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome.

METHODS: 73 OSA patients and 67 age-matched controls were consecutively and prospectively enrolled. All participants underwent at least one reliable standard automated perimetry (SAP) and were imaged with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) using two different devices. The OCT parameters were compared between groups, and Pearson correlations between main indices of SAP and OCT parameters were calculated.

RESULTS: The pattern standard deviation of SAP was higher in the OSA group (p = 0.001). Mean GCIPL thickness was 82.99 ± 10.30 and 80.78 ± 12.15 µm in the control and OSA groups, respectively (p = 0.25), and GCL thickness was 44.93 ± 11.42 µm in the control group and 48.81 ± 10.85 µm in OSA individuals (p = 0.47). Pearson correlations between the GCIPL-GCL measurements and the main indices of SAP were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Neither GCIPL nor GCL thickness were reduced in OSA subjects compared with healthy individuals. Retinal sensitivity evaluated with SAP was however decreased in OSA patients.