Cem ALAY, Oya TEKELİ, Feyza ÇALIŞ KARANFİL, Özge YANIK ODABAŞ

Evaluation of the retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell complex thicknesses in patients with exfoliation syndrome

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thicknesses usingspectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in both unilateral and bilateral exfoliation syndrome (XFS) patients.Materials and methods: Twenty-four patients with unilateral XFS, 20 patients with bilateral XFS, and 23 healthy subjects were enrolledin this study. Eyes with XFS were compared with both fellow eyes and age-matched control subject eyes in terms of mean and segmentalRNFL thickness and minimum, mean, and segmental GCC thickness.Results: In the bilateral XFS group, minimum GCC of the right eye (75.80 ± 11.6 µm) was significantly thinner compared with the righteyes of the control group (81.83 ± 6.6 µm) (P < 0.05). Also, superior RNFL was thinner in the right eye (106.90 ± 16.7 µm) comparedwith left eye (114.15 ± 18.1 µm) in the bilateral XFS group (P < 0.05). No significant differences in the unilateral XFS group were detectedin GCC and RNFL analysis.Conclusion: Minimum GCC value may be the first parameter affected in the conversion of XFS to exfoliative glaucoma followed byRNFL changes.

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