Retinal Sensitivity and Ganglion Cell-Related Retinal Layer Thickness in the Normal Aging Process

Aging-associated changes in visual field (VF) sensitivity were compared prospectively and longitudinally with the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (cpRNFLT) and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness (GCIPLT) changes in the corresponding retinal areas of the same eyes (72 eyes of 37 normal Japanese subjects; mean age, 51.3 years). The Humphrey Field Analyzer 24-2 test (HFA 24-2) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) measurements of the cpRNFLT and GCIPLT in a 0.6-mm-diameter circle corresponding to the four central points of HFA 24-2 adjusted for retinal ganglion cell displacement (GCIPLT4TestPoints) were performed every 3 months for 3 years. The tiem changes of the mean sensitivity over the entire field (VFmean) and the four central points (VF4TestPoints), cpRNFLT, and GCIPLT4TestPoints were analyzed using a linear mixed model. The aging-associated decline rates of VFmean and VF4TestPoins were 0.12 and 0.19 decibels/year (p<0.001), which significantly accelerated with increased subjects’ age (0.009 and 0.010 decibels/year, p<0.001, respectively) without changes in the ocular media. Those of the CpRNFLT and GCIPLT4TestPoints were not significant in both (p>0.114), but significantly accelerated with increased subjects’ age (0.021 and 0.010 mm/year, p=0.001 and 0.004, respectively). These results have implications in studying physiological aging- or desease-related changes in these parameters.