Assessment of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in healthy, full-term neonates

Am J Ophthalmol. 2015 Apr;159(4):803-11. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2015.01.017. Epub 2015 Jan 26.

Abstract

Purpose: To measure average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses in healthy, full-term neonates.

Design: Descriptive research to develop normative data.

Methods: Healthy infants born between 37 and 42 weeks postmenstrual age were imaged with hand-held spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. A custom script segmented the RNFL; the fovea and optic nerve center were manually selected. A second script measured the average RNFL thickness along the papillomacular bundle, defined as the arc from -15 degrees to +15 degrees on the axis from the optic nerve to fovea, with radii of 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, and 1.7 mm from the center of the optic disc. Shapiro-Wilk W tests assessed these measurements for normality to determine the age-appropriate radial distance for subsequent analyses. Average RNFL thicknesses for four temporal 45-degree sectors (superior temporal, temporal superior, temporal inferior, and inferior temporal) and the temporal quadrant were calculated and compared to demographic parameters for all infants.

Results: Fifty full-term infants were adequately imaged for RNFL analysis. RNFL thicknesses at 1.5 mm radial distance from the optic nerve were the most normally distributed. While there was a trend toward greater mean superior temporal RNFL thickness for both black and Hispanic vs white infants (128 ± 27 μm, 124 ± 30 μm, and 100 ± 19 μm, respectively, P = .04 for both comparisons), there were no other significant differences noted in RNFL thicknesses by race, sex, gestational age, or birth weight.

Conclusions: We present RNFL thickness measurements for healthy, full-term infants that may serve as normative data for future analyses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Birth Weight
  • Female
  • Gestational Age
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Nerve Fibers*
  • Optic Disk / anatomy & histology*
  • Organ Size
  • Prospective Studies
  • Reference Values
  • Retina / anatomy & histology*
  • Retinal Ganglion Cells / cytology*
  • Term Birth*
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence