Evaluation of retinal vessel diameters and retinal layers in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Author: Esra Vural (Turkey)

Co-authors: Şerife Birer, Sevgi Arık Yüksel, Medine Gündoğan, Leyla Hazar

Purpose

To compare retinal vessel diameters and retinal segmentation analyzes of patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) with healthy controls.

Setting/Venue

Health Science University, Kayseri City Tranining And Research, Department Of Ophthalmology, Kayseri, Turkey

Methods

Thirty- three eyes of 33 patients with OSAS and 26 eyes of 26 healthy controls were included in the study. Right eyes of all patients were included in the study. Detailed ophthalmological examinations and optical coherence tomography (OCT) (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) examinations of the patients were performed. Retinal artery and vein diameters were measured in 4 quadrants (superotemporal-inferotemporal-superonasal-inferonasal) from retinal nerve fiber analysis sections measured by OCT. Retinal layers were evaluated by central macular thickness (CMT) and automatic segmentation analysis.

Results

The mean age was 36.9 ± 6.96 and 37 ± 6.43 years in the OSAS group and control group, respectively (p = 0.959). In retinal segmentation analysis, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of retinal layers and CMT (p˃0.05, all). There was only a difference between inferonasal vein diameters in terms of retinal vein diameters (p = 0.007). The difference in retinal artery diameters in 4 quadrants was significantly lower in the OSAS group than in healthy controls (p˂0.001, all).

Conlusions

Retinal artery diameters were found to be significantly lower in individuals with severe OSAS compared to healthy controls. This may be a hemodynamic response due to hypoxia in OSAS patients. Our study is a static study in terms of retinal blood supply, and studies that can evaluate it at a dynamic level (Doppler USG, etc.) are needed.