Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 24, 2026
Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats
Published on: January 10, 2019
Advantages of optical coherence tomography in assessing retinal astrocytic hamartomas in children with tuberous
Guorui Dou1, Ziyi Zhou1, Jiaxing Sun1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Eye Institute of Chinese PLA, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Purpose:
Retinal astrocytic hamartomas (RAHs) are benign tumors that are mostly associated with a rare systemic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). In the clinical diagnosis of TSC, RAH has been recognized as a major feature that supports a definite diagnosis. Here, 60 patients (120 eyes) with TSC underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination and multimodality imaging using fundus photographs, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and infrared images.
Methods:
Admission SD-OCT data were retrieved and utilized for analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to calculate the cutoff value.
Results:
A total of 117 hamartomas were detected in 45 patients, with a mean age of 12 years. On OCT imaging, RAHs appeared as gentle or protruding lesions of varying heights (mean thickness 314 mm, ranging between 71 and 974 mm).
Conclusion:
For RAHs that could not be detected on fundus photographs or by ophthalmoscopy, OCT demonstrated excellent capability in revealing these lesions, particularly smaller tumors (MT < 271 mm). These results suggest that OCT can improve the detection of hamartomas and contribute to the diagnosis of TSC.
