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Retinal and choroidal thickness measurements in obstructive sleep apnea: impacts of continuous positive airway pressure treatment

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine retinal and choroidal thicknesses in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and determine the impacts of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment.

Methods

Prospective follow-up study conducted at a university hospital. 40 patients with OSA, 28 treated with CPAP, and 12 untreated, were enrolled immediately after diagnosis and graded according to the apnea hypopnea index (AHI) determined in an overnight polysomnography. Inclusion criteria were a new diagnosis of OSA and CPAP indicated. Participants underwent a full ophthalmologic examination including optical coherence tomography (OCT) at the peripapillary, macular, and choroidal levels and the same examination 3 months later. Outcome measures were peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), total retinal (TRT), retinal ganglion cell layer (RGCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), photoreceptor layer (PL), and choroidal thicknesses.

Results

At 3 months, RGCL thickness was reduced at the inner nasal macula segment in the no-CPAP group (P = 0.016). In + CPAP, increases were produced in RNFL thickness (5/6 segments) and TRT (7/ 9 segments), while choroidal thinning was observed temporally (P = 0.003). At baseline, positive correlation was detected between choroidal thickness and AHI (r = 0.352, P = 0.005) and between IPL thickness (7/9 segments) and AHI (r = 0.414, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Initial retinal and choroidal thickening was followed by RGCL thinning over 3 months. In patients receiving CPAP, we observed no thinning of any retinal layer and normalization of choroidal thickness.

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Abbreviations

AHI:

Apnea hypopnea index

ART:

Automatic real time

CPAP:

Continuous positive airway pressure

EDI:

Enhanced depth imaging

F:

Fovea

G:

Global

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

IIM:

Inferior inner macula

IN:

Infereronasal

IOM:

Inferior outer macula

IOP:

Intraocular pressure

IPL:

Inner plexiform layer

IT:

Inferotemporal

N:

Nasal

NIM:

Nasal inner macula

NOM:

Nasal outer macula

OSA:

Obstructive sleep apnea

PL:

Photoreceptor layer

RGCL:

Retinal ganglion cell layer

RNFL:

Retinal nerve fiber layer

SIM:

Superior inner macula

SN:

Superonasal

SOM:

Superior outer macula

SpO2 :

Peripheral oxygen saturation

ST :

Superotemporal

T :

Temporal

TIM :

Temporal inner macula

TOM :

Temporal outer macula

TRT :

Total retinal thickness

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmology Department, Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, Spain

    P. Naranjo-Bonilla & R. Giménez-Gómez

  2. Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Juan Ramón Jiménez, Huelva, Spain

    P. Naranjo-Bonilla

  3. Cordoba, Spain

    P. Naranjo-Bonilla

  4. Primary Care Health Centre, Córdoba-Guadalquivir Health District, Cordoba, Spain

    María C. Muñoz-Villanueva

  5. Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Cordoba, Spain

    R. Giménez-Gómez

  6. Respiratory Department, Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, Spain

    B. Jurado-Gámez

  7. Respiratory Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Cordoba, Spain

    B. Jurado-Gámez

Authors
  1. P. Naranjo-Bonilla
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  2. María C. Muñoz-Villanueva
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  3. R. Giménez-Gómez
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  4. B. Jurado-Gámez
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study, conception, and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Naranjo-Bonilla P., Muñoz-Villanueva María C., Giménez-Gómez R., and Jurado-Gámez B.. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Naranjo-Bonilla P., Muñoz-Villanueva María C., and Jurado-Gámez B., and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Correspondence to P. Naranjo-Bonilla.

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Naranjo-Bonilla, P., Muñoz-Villanueva, M.C., Giménez-Gómez, R. et al. Retinal and choroidal thickness measurements in obstructive sleep apnea: impacts of continuous positive airway pressure treatment. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 259, 3381–3393 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05322-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05322-w

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