Effects of axial length on retinal nerve fiber layer and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer measured by spectral-domain OCT

PURPOSE To evaluate the influence of ocular axial length on circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness in healthy eyes after correcting for ocular magnification effect. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated 120 eyes from 60 volunteer participants (myopes, emmetropes, and hyperopes). The thickness of the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer were measured using the spectral optical coherence tomography (OCT)-Cirrus HD-OCT and correlated with ocular axial length. Adjustment for ocular magnification was performed by applying Littmann's formula. RESULTS Before the adjustment for ocular magnification, age-adjusted mixed models analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between axial length and average circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (r=-0.43, p<0.001), inferior circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (r=-0.46, p<0.001), superior circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (r=-0.31, p<0.05), nasal circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (r=-0.35, p<0.001), and average ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness (r=-0.35, p<0.05). However, after correcting for magnification effect, the results were considerably different, revealing only a positive correlation between axial length and temporal retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (r=0.42, p<0.001). Additionally, we demonstrated a positive correlation between axial length and average ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness (r=0.48, p<0.001). All other correlations were not found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Before adjustment for ocular magnification, axial length was negatively correlated with circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness measured by Cirrus-OCT. We attributed this effect to ocular magnification associated with greater axial lengths, which was corrected with the Littman's formula. Further studies are required to investigate the impact of ocular magnification correction on the diagnostic accuracy of Cirrus-OCT.