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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Ophthalmol.
Sec. Neuro-Ophthalmology Disorders
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fopht.2024.1476911

Macular Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients with and without Optic Disc Drusen

Provisionally accepted
Alvilda Hemmingsen Steensberg Alvilda Hemmingsen Steensberg 1*Lasse Malmqvist Lasse Malmqvist 2Mette Bertelsen Vardrup Mette Bertelsen Vardrup 3Line Kessel Line Kessel 1Karen Grønskov Karen Grønskov 3Steffen Hamann Steffen Hamann 1
  • 1 Department of Ophthalmology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark
  • 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Glostrup, Denmark
  • 3 Department of Clinical Genetics, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of inherited retinal dystrophies characterized by progressive photoreceptor degeneration. In a recent study, we reported co-existing optic disc drusen (ODD) in 30%, a prevalence 15 times higher than in the general population. The aims of this study were to a) assess if macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLt) was increased in our cohort of RP patients, and b) compare RNFLt between RP patients with and without ODD.Methods: In this post-hoc analysis, optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from patients with RP and healthy controls were manually delineated, and macular RNFLt measurements were obtained. The analyses were conducted both a) for RP patients without ODD compared to controls, and b) for RP patients with and without ODD.Results: OCT scans from 32 patients with RP and 13 healthy controls were included. Macular RNFLt was significantly increased in RP patients compared to healthy controls and in RP patients with ODD compared to RP patients without ODD.Discussion: Further studies will explore whether increased RNFLt leads to ODD development through dystrophic calcification or conversely, if ODD in combination with RP-associated retinal ganglion cell damage cause the increased RNFLt through retrograde axoplasmic stasis.

    Keywords: Optic disc drusen (ODD), Retinitis Pigmentosa, Optic nerve head drusen, Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT)

    Received: 06 Aug 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hemmingsen Steensberg, Malmqvist, Bertelsen Vardrup, Kessel, Grønskov and Hamann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alvilda Hemmingsen Steensberg, Department of Ophthalmology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.