Published online Jul 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i21.5830
Peer-review started: January 1, 2021
First decision: January 24, 2021
Revised: March 4, 2021
Accepted: June 17, 2021
Article in press: June 17, 2021
Published online: July 26, 2021
Processing time: 200 Days and 9.2 Hours
Presently the changes of macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) thickness were assessed for neuro-ophthalmology and mGCC atrophic injury caused by chiasma opticum, visual radiation, and visual cortical diseases. This study aimed to explore the mGCC injury at different stages in anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) and the clinical significance.
The pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and clinical treatments of AION are yet elusive. The spectral domain optical coherence tomography examination is objective and non-injurious and can be widely used in the clinical examination of the AION.
Through study, the mGCC injury was different at the stages in AION. The most severe ganglion cell layer + inner plexus layer thinning occurred early when potential neuroprotective or protective therapy must be provided before 3 wk to reduce retinal ganglion cells loss.
Ganglion cell layer plus inner plexiform layer is acutely unaffected in the early inflammatory edema stage of the AION and provides a reliable method to measure the structure of retinal neurons using optical coherence tomography 3D segmentation.
The “subnormal eye” was put forward as a clinical phenomenon often observed by the authors during mGCC examination. The onset time of AION was defined as early stage (within 3 wk of onset), middle stage (course of disease of 3 wk to 2 mo), and late stage (course of disease > 2 mo).
The ganglion cell layer + inner plexus layer segmentation measurement of the spectral domain optical coherence tomography was superior to RNFL thickness as a biomarker for early structural loss in nerve ophthalmology.
The mGCC analysis can be widely used in the study of nerve ophthalmology.