Macular volume and central foveal thickness measurements in normal eyes of healthy Nigerian adults using optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Objective: To determine macular volume and central foveal thickness measurements in normal eyes of healthy Nigerian adults using Stratus optical coherence tomography.

Subjects and Methods: Consenting 100 adults Nigerians with normal eyes were recruited and examined using Carl Zeiss Stratus Optical Coherence Tomographer (OCT) machine Model 3000 software version 4.0. A fast macular thickness map scan protocol was employed. Central fovea is defined as locus of intersection of the radial scans. A default setting of six lines at 6 mm was used. Data was analyzed using the paired t.test for independence and linear regression.

Results: There were 200 eyes of 100 subjects with mean age of 36.4 + 11.7 years (M: F = 3.3:1). The mean macula volume was 6.79 + 0.392 µm³. It was 6.861 , 0.297 in males, 6.496 , 0.520 in females and was statistically higher in males than females (P = 0.000). The mean central foveal thickness (MCFT) was 149.58±32.470 µm. It was 154.49 ± 34.652 µm in males and 133.33 ± 15.315 µm in females. MCFT was significantly higher in males than females (P = 0.000).

Conclusion: Normal macular volume and central foveal thickness measurements in Nigerian adults is presented and is comparable to that of Indian and Chinese populations, but lower than reported in Caucasians.

Keywords: Foveal thickness, healthy Nigerian adults, macular volume