Macular thickness in healthy Saudi adults

OBJECTIVES To determine the macular thickness in the eyes of healthy Saudi adults using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods: This is a prospective, cross-sectional study, including 158 healthy participants between August and December 2015. Mean subject age was 29.9 ± 7.85 years old. All participants underwent full ophthalmic evaluation, including SD-OCT imaging, and axial length measurement. Data from the right eye were included. Mean retinal thickness was determined. Correlations between retinal thickness and gender, age, axial length, and spherical equivalence were analyzed. Results: Mean central retinal thickness was 244.76 ± 23.62 µm, mean axial length was 23.8 ± 1.062 mm (range: 20.5-29 mm) and mean spherical equivalent was -0.31 ± 1.75 diopters (D) (range: -5.50 to +4.25 D). Central subfield (CSF) thickness and foveal volume were significantly lower in women than in men (both p less than 0.001). Data from the various age groups did not show statistically significant differences in the CSF thickness (p=0.389) or foveal volume (p=0.341). A positive correlation between CSF thickness and axial length (p less than 0.001) was observed.  Conclusion: The normal macular thickness values in healthy Saudi individuals is different from that reported in other ethnic groups, as obtained by SD-OCT. Saudi men had thicker CSF than Saudi women and axial length was positively correlated to the central foveal thickness.