Effect of Hemodialysis on Retinal Thickness in Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy, with and without Macular Edema, Using Optical Coherence Tomography

Background. Effects of hemodialysis (HD) treatment on retinal thickness and macular edema are unclear. Objective. To evaluate changes in retinal thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR), with and without diabetic macular edema (DME), undergoing HD. Methods. Nonrandomized prospective study. Forty eyes of DR patients with ESRD treated with HD were divided into two groups: patients with macular edema and patients without macular edema. Both eyes were analyzed. Patients underwent an ophthalmic examination including OCT measurements of retinal thickness, blood albumin and hemoglobin A1C levels, blood pressure, and body weight, 30 minutes before and after HD. Results. We found no significant effects of HD on retinal thickness among patients both with and without DME. The former showed a trend towards reduction in retinal thickness in foveal area following HD, while the latter showed an increase. There was no correlation between retinal thickness and mean blood pressure, weight, kinetic model value-Kt/V, glycemic hemoglobin, or albumin levels before and after HD. Conclusions. HD has no significant effect on retinal thickness among patients with or without DME. Further studies on larger cohorts and repeated OCT examinations are needed to confirm the preliminary findings in this study.