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Evaluation of macular, retinal nerve fiber layer and choroidal thickness by optical coherence tomography in children and adolescents with vitamin B12 deficiency

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate macular, Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) and choroidal thickness in children and adolescents with vitamin B12 deficiency and no neurological examination finding.

Methods

The study group includes of thirty-three children aged 8–17 years who were brought to the Pediatric outpatient clinic with the symptoms of fatigue and forgetfulness and whose Vitamin B12 levels were detected < 200 pg/ml. The control group was the 30 children and adolescents applied to the same policlinic with various symptoms and whose Vitamin B12 levels were found normal. Children and adolescents with chronic systemic/ocular disease history and myopia or hyperopia more than 4 diopters were not included in both groups. Spectral Domain-Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) was used for measurements.

Results

Mean Macular thickness value was 261.2 ± 17.6 in the Vitamin B12 deficiency group and 267.7 ± 17.4 in the control group. Mean value of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) thickness was 103.5 ± 7.5 in the Vitamin B12 deficiency group and 104.3 ± 8.9 in the control group. The mean values of Choroidal thickness were 360.1 ± 59.8 and 316.9 ± 95.4 in Vitamin B12 deficiency and control groups, respectively. There was a statistically significant increase in choroidal thickness in Vitamin B12 deficiency group compared to controls.

Conclusion

Statistically significant increase in the Choroidal thicknesses of children and adolescents with Vitamin B12 deficiency is important in terms of shedding light on studies that will contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between vitamin B12 and inflammation.

Clinical trial registration

This study is an observational study.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the TAHA AYYILDIZ (obirtahadir@hotmail.com).

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Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmology Department, Bursa City Hospital, Bursa, Turkey

    Taha Ayyildiz

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Turkey

    Ramazan Dulkadiroglu & Ali Gunes

  3. Ophthalmology Department, Ulucanlar Eye Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

    Mevlüt Yilmaz

  4. Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

    Osman Ahmet Polat

Authors
  1. Taha Ayyildiz
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  2. Ramazan Dulkadiroglu
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  3. Mevlüt Yilmaz
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  4. Osman Ahmet Polat
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  5. Ali Gunes
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Contributions

TA and MY are responsible for acquisition of the subjects and/or data, analysis and interpretation of the data. TA and AG were responsible for the preparation of the article. AB, RD and OAP were responsible for the selection of the patients into the study who met the inclusion criteria. AB and AG revised the article critically for important intellectual content. AG is responsible for the study concept and design. All authors have approved the final version of the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramazan Dulkadiroglu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article. There has been no conflict of interest during the preparation of the study, data collection, interpretation of results, and article writing.

Consent to participate

Verbal informed consent was obtained from parents prior to the interview.

Consent to publish

Verbal consent was obtained from all participants to publish the data.

Ethical approval

Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Medicine (2020–04/37). The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Cite this article

Ayyildiz, T., Dulkadiroglu, R., Yilmaz, M. et al. Evaluation of macular, retinal nerve fiber layer and choroidal thickness by optical coherence tomography in children and adolescents with vitamin B12 deficiency. Int Ophthalmol 41, 2399–2404 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01794-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01794-1

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