Progressive inner retinal neurodegeneration in non-proliferative macular telangiectasia type 2

Patients with non-proliferative macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) have ganglion cell layer (GCL) and nerve fibre layer (NFL) loss, but it is unclear whether the thinning is progressive. We quantified the change in retinal layer thickness over time in MacTel with and without diabetes.

In this retrospective, multicentre, comparative case series, subjects with MacTel with at least two optical coherence tomographic (OCT) scans separated by >9 months OCTs were segmented using the Iowa Reference Algorithms. Mean NFL and GCL thickness was computed across the total area of the early treatment diabetic retinopathy study grid and for the inner temporal region to determine the rate of thinning over time. Mixed effects models were fit to each layer and region to determine retinal thinning for each sublayer over time.

115 patients with MacTel were included; 57 patients (50%) had diabetes and 21 (18%) had a history of carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (CAI) treatment. MacTel patients with and without diabetes had similar rates of thinning. In patients without diabetes and untreated with CAIs, the temporal parafoveal NFL thinned at a rate of -0.25±0.09 µm/year (95% CI [-0.42 to -0.09]; p=0.003). The GCL in subfield 4 thinned faster in the eyes treated with CAI (-1.23±0.21 µm/year; 95% CI [-1.64 to -0.82]) than in untreated eyes (-0.19±0.16; 95% CI [-0.50, 0.11]; p<0.001), an effect also seen for the inner nuclear layer. Progressive outer retinal thinning was observed.

Patients with MacTel sustain progressive inner retinal neurodegeneration similar to those with diabetes without diabetic retinopathy. Further research is needed to understand the consequences of retinal thinning in MacTel.