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Macular Thickness Assessment in Healthy Eyes Based on Ethnicity Using Stratus OCT Optical Coherence Tomography

From the Department of Ophthalmology, Storm Eye Institute, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC-SEI), Charleston, South Carolina.

PURPOSE. To assess the variation in macular thickness measurements in healthy Caucasian and African American men and women through Stratus OCT optical coherence tomography (OCT-3).

METHODS. One hundred sixty-six eyes of 83 healthy patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examination in this prospective study. Exclusion criteria included a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, intraocular pressure (IOP) greater than 21 mm Hg, history of eye surgery or trauma, or evidence of eye disease. For analysis purposes, the authors excluded those participants in whom OCT signal strength was <7 in each eye. A fast macular thickness protocol consisting of a 6-mm radial scan centered on the fovea was used for the analysis, and the data were analyzed using the t-test for independence and linear regression. Both eyes of each patient were analyzed using the OCT-3, and analysis showed a statistically significant correlation between right and left eyes. Therefore, only one eye from each patient was randomly selected for final correlation and analysis.

RESULTS. Mean foveal thickness (MFT) for Caucasians was 32 µm greater than for African Americans (217 vs. 185 µm, respectively; P < 0.001). The MFT was significantly thicker in males than in females (220 vs. 197 µm, respectively; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS. The fovea is significantly less thick in African Americans and females than in Caucasians and males. Racial and sexual differences should be considered when interpreting an OCT scan.