Korean J Ophthalmol.  2009 Mar;23(1):23-26. 10.3341/kjo.2009.23.1.23.

Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Change After Panretinal Photocoagulation in Patients With Diabetic Retinopathy

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea. hkcho26@cau.ac.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the effect of panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) on the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with diabetic retinopathy.
METHODS
Subjects included 118 eyes for a treatment group and 164 eyes for a control group. The peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured before and 6 months after PRP in treatment group. In control group, the peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured at baseline and 6 months later. The relationships between changes in RNFL thickness and the number of laser burns, duration of diabetes, HbA1c level, and vision change were analyzed.
RESULTS
After 6 months, the RNFL thickness decreased an average of 2.12 microm and 0.93 microm in the treatment and control groups. However, the changes between the two groups were not statistically significant. The relationship between the number of laser burns and changes in RNFL thickness was not significant. No differences were found between changes in the RNFL thickness and the duration of diabetes in either group. However, in the treatment group a higher HbA1c level was correlated with a greater decrease in post-PRP RNFL thickness. This relationship was not observed in the control group. The difference in the change of the RNFL thickness between the two groups was statistically significant. Vision increased an average of 0.02 and 0.01 after 6 months in the treatment and control groups, respectively. However, this difference was not statistically significant.
CONCLUSIONS
Although a decrease in peripapillary RNFL thickness was observed in the treatment group after 6 months, it was not statistically significant compared to control group. However, the decrease was greater when the blood HbA1c level was higher.

Keyword

Diabetic retinopathy; Glycosylated hemoglobin; Panretinal photocoagulation; Optical coherence tomography; Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer

MeSH Terms

Diabetic Retinopathy/*surgery
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Laser Coagulation/*methods
Middle Aged
Nerve Fibers/*pathology
Optic Disk/*pathology/surgery
Postoperative Period
Retinal Ganglion Cells/*pathology
Retrospective Studies
Tomography, Optical Coherence
Treatment Outcome
Visual Acuity
Visual Fields

Cited by  1 articles

Correlation between Macular GCIPL Thickness and Visual Acuity after Resolution of Diabetic Macular Edema
Ji Man Park, Young Chang Lee, Seong Taeck Kim
J Korean Ophthalmol Soc. 2015;56(9):1345-1352.    doi: 10.3341/jkos.2015.56.9.1345.


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