Anterior Inflammation, Posterior Manifestation: An Optical Coherence Tomography Study in Unilateral Acute Anterior...

Characteristically confined to the anterior segment, acute anterior uveitis (AAU) has been observed to exhibit increased retinal layer thickness. This study aims to evaluate changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), ganglion cell complex (GCC) and central macular thickness (CMT) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in cases with unilateral AAU.

This is a prospective observational study involving 79 patients with unilateral AAU, selected via non-probability sampling. The pRNFL, GCC and CMT were measured using Spectral Domain OCT during acute episode of AAU and were compared to the unaffected eye and affected eye after 2 weeks of treatment. Data analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Version 26.0.

The study had a mean participants' age of 41.01 years and included 45.6% (36) female participants. Right eye was involved in 57% (45). Non-granulomatous uveitis was seen in 60.8% (48). At presentation, mean pRNFL, GCC and CMT in affected and unaffected eyes were 110.27 ± 15.67 μm vs. 103.09 ± 14.65 μm (p < 0.001), 103 ± 11 μm vs. 97.95 ± 8.50 μm (p < 0.001) and 254.90 ± 46.47 vs 244.03 ± 21.96 (p = 0.035), respectively. After treatment, the mean pRNFL, GCC and CMT in the affected eye reduced to 110.05 ± 15.95 μm (p = 0.845), 102.99 ± 11.20 μm (p = 0.918) and 251.56 ± 32.03 μm (p = 0.185), respectively.

Significant but reversible posterior segment changes in AAU were detected using OCT, highlighting its potential as a non-invasive and sensitive optical biomarker for early detection and management of ocular inflammation.