Optical coherence tomography retinal thickness and volume measurements in X-linked retinoschisis

To analyze retinal thickness and volume measurements of X-linked retinoschisis patients by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) and correlate these findings with visual acuity and patient age.

Retrospective comparative case series.

Sixty-three eyes of 33 male patients with X-linked retinoschisis were gleaned from a SD OCT database at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Forty-one eyes of 21 patients with low refractive error, no visual impairment, and no known retinal disease served as age-similar controls. The mean age of the retinoschisis patients was 26.4 years. The mean age of patient controls was 30.0 years. Full-thickness, inner and outer retina thickness, and volume measurements were determined by SD OCT.

Foveal schisis was observed in 81% of retinoschisis patients. Patients with foveal schisis tended to be younger than patients lacking foveal schisis. Inner and outer foveal thickness and volume measurements were increased in retinoschisis patients compared to controls. Outer retinal perifoveal and parafoveal thicknesses and volumes were consistently increased in retinoschisis patients relative to controls. In contrast, inner retinal perifoveal and parafoveal thickness and volume measurements were decreased in retinoschisis patients compared to controls. Worse visual acuity correlated with thinning of the temporal perifoveal inner retina and thickening of the inner fovea. Full-thickness measurements and inner retina and outer retina thickness and volume measurements tended to decrease with patient age.

Increased inner retinal foveal thickness and decreased perifoveal inner retinal thickness correlates with worse visual acuity and overall retinal thickness decreases with age in X-linked retinoschisis.