[Macular optical coherence tomography in albinos: Case-control study at the Central Hospital of Yaounde]

To study the tomographic aspects of the macula in albinos and their correlation with visual acuity.

We conducted a case-control study including albinos (cases) and non-albinos (controls). They were age- and sex-matched. All subjects underwent an ophthalmological examination and spectral-domain macular OCT. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. The significance level was set at P<0.05.

We included 50 albinos (cases) and 50 non-albinos (controls). The mean age was 25.84±9.02, and the sex ratio 0.5. The mean corrected visual acuity of the albino group was 0.63 logMAR. The mean foveal thickness was 281.16±10.55μm for cases and 196.86±19.14μm for controls (P<0.00001). The mean central macular thickness was 284.79±17.78μm and 256.17±17.78μm respectively in cases and controls (P<0.00001). The mean parafoveal thickness was 282.61±13.49μm in cases and 333.63±9.73μm in controls (P<0.00001). Corrected visual acuity was correlated with central macular thickness (r=-0.29; P=0.004) as well as to parafoveal thickness (r=-0.4; P<0.0001). VA was better with higher central macular or parafoveal thickness. All albinos had foveal hypoplasia.

Albinos have foveal hypoplasia that is correlated with their visual acuity.