İnvestigation of the morphometric structure of the retina in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by optical coherence tomography

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the changes in the retina due to inadequate oxygenation in patients diagnosed with COPD according to GOLD 2017. Materials and method: Measurements have been taken from both eyes of 76 COPD and 80 healthy individuals aged 18 years and older and a total of 312 eyes have been studied. Patients with COPD have been examined in four groups A, B, C and D, according to GOLD 2017. RNFL thicknesses of 3 mm and 6 mm diameters with fovea centralis, fovea centralis with OCT and RNFL thickness measurements at the ONH center have been investigated in for four quadrants: superior, inferior, temporal and nasal. Kruskal-Wallis test and Conover paired comparison method were used in the comparison of COPD and control groups. Results: It has been concluded that COPD was more common in males than in females. Oxygen saturation was the highest in GOLD A group and the lowest in GOLD D group. The thickness of the RNFL is the thinnest in the GOLD D group in fovea centralis compared to other COPD groups; 3mm diameter of superior, inferior, temporal and nasal quadrants compared to the other groups in the GOLD D group in the thinnest, 6mm diameter in the superior, inferior and nasal quadrants have been found to be thinner in GOLD B and GOLD D groups than in the other groups. It has been found that RNFL thickness in ONH centered peripheral area was the thinest in GOLD B, GOLD C and GOLD D groups in inferior quadrant; In the temporal quadrant, GOLD A and GOLD C groups were the thickest. It was concluded that these differences between the groups were statistically significant. Conclusion: COPD has been found to be more common in males than females in our society, and it has been seen to cause thinning of the thickness of RNFL in different quadrants in both macular and peripheral areas. Key words: Morphometry, COPD, OCT, retina