JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

Abstract

Background: Fluid accumulation during pregnancy may affect the retinal thickness. With increasing use of Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT), it is imperative to establish a normative database of retinal and choroidal thickness in all trimesters of pregnancy and in healthy nonpregnant women to reliably detect early abnormalities. Objectives: To determine the foveal and parafoveal retinal thickness in healthy pregnant rural north Indian women. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included healthy, rural, north Indian women in the age group of 18-30 years. Group 1 consisted of 20 eyes of 20 pregnant women in the first trimester; Group 2 consisted of 20 eyes of 20 pregnant women in the second trimester; Group 3 consisted of 20 eyes of 20 pregnant women in the third trimester; and Group 4 (control group) consisted of 20 eyes of 20 non-pregnant women. The macula map analysis protocol of Nidek RS 3000 Lite SD OCT was selected for analysis of retinal thickness. By default, data from the right eye was used in all subjects. The differences between the groups were analysed utilizing one way ANOVA using Post–Hoc Bonferroni correction and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A statistically significant difference for foveal thickness was found among the Group 1–3 (P< 0.001) and Group 3-4 (P< 0.0001). A statistically significant difference in the parafoveal region was found only in superior inner macula (SIM) region between Groups 2-3 (P< 0.03), 3-4 (P< 0.01). Conclusions: Pregnancy affects the retinal thickness and especially in the third trimester.

Key-words: Pregnancy, foveal thickness, parafoveal thickness, optical coherence tomography