Morphological changes in amblyopic eyes in choriocapillaris and Sattler’s layer in comparison to healthy eyes, and in retinal nerve fiber layer in comparison to fellow eyes through quantification of mean reflectivity: A pilot study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 8; p. e0255735
• Main Authors: Masri, Oussama Samer, Abiad, Bachir, Darwich, Mouhamad J., Sarkis, Paulette Antonios, El Mollayess, Georges M., Nasser, Zeina, Fares, Youssef, Al Ahmar, Elie, Estephan, Elias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco, CA USA Public Library of Science 06.08.2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Amblyopia; Biology and Life Sciences; Comparative analysis; Computer and Information Sciences; Diagnosis; Engineering and Technology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Retina; Social Sciences; Lebanon
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255735

Establishing the reliability of a new method to check the mean retinal and choroidal reflectivity and using it to find retinal and choroid changes in amblyopia. The method of measuring reflectivity is good to excellent reliability for all regions of interest except the fourth. The mean reflectivity of the choriocapillaris and Sattler's layer in amblyopic eyes were significantly lower than in healthy eyes (p = 0.003 and p = 0.008 respectively). The RNFL reflectivity was lower than that of fellow eyes (p = 0.025). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons showed statistically significant differences between amblyopic and healthy eyes for choriocapillaris (p = 0.018) and Sattler's (p = 0.035), and between amblyopic and fellow eyes for RNFL (p = 0.039). A decrease in reflectivity of the choriocapillaris and Sattler's in amblyopic compared to healthy eyes, and a decrease in reflectivity of the RNFL in the amblyopic compared to fellow eyes, indicate that the pathophysiology is partly peripheral and might be bilateral.