Cheung H, King BJ, Gast TJ. Presumed activated retinal astrocytes and Müller cells in healthy and glaucomatous eyes detected by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2020;
40:738-751. [PMID:
32885879 PMCID:
PMC7692888 DOI:
10.1111/opo.12731]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate presumed activated retinal astrocytes and Müller cells (ARAM) detected by scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography, and to investigate its presence in healthy controls as well as its relationship to posterior vitreal detachment (PVD) and glaucoma.
Methods
This retrospective study involved 1337 eyes of 805 controls between ages 8 and 90, and 250 eyes of 146 patients with glaucoma between the ages of 28 and 95. Subjects were counted as possessing ARAM only if they met the following criteria: (1) a patchy, discrete, glittering appearance on SLO, (2) a distinct, flat, hyper‐reflective layer at the internal limiting membrane on at least one B‐scan crossing the glittering area and (3) absence of any surface wrinkling retinopathy. The diagnosis of PVD was based on both the patient’s clinical examination and imaging data. Frequency tables were used to describe categorical variables and differences were compared by means of χ2. Analyses were separated based on right and left eye, first on controls and then between glaucomatous eyes and age‐similar sex‐matched controls.
Results
ARAM was found in both healthy controls and patients with glaucoma at similar frequencies. There was no association between having glaucoma and the presence of ARAM. ARAM was not different between the sexes but was associated with age and having a PVD.
Conclusions
This large retrospective study found that ARAM can be seen in healthy controls, is associated with PVD and possibly independently with age, and occurred at similar frequency in glaucomatous eyes.
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