2Prof. MD, Sancaktepe Şehit Prof.Dr. İlhan Varank Training and Research Hospital, Neurology, İstanbul, Türkiye DOI : 10.37845/ret.vit.2022.31.53 Purpose: The essential tremor (ET) is considered as a part of neurodegenerative disease spectrum. The evaluation of the retina and choroid via Spectral Domain- optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with ET, was aimed.
Material and Methods: This study enrolled 60 eyes of 30 patients with ET and 60 eyes of 30 age and gender matched healthy controls (HC). All patients underwent full ophthalmological examination including OCT.
Results: Measurements of the thickness of the ganglion cell-innerplexiform layer (GC-IPL) of the macular area demonstrated significant decrease in average, minimum and inferotemporal sector for right and left eyes and in the superonasal sector of the left eye in ET group. The average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in ET group was significantly lower than the values in HC group. Quadrant evaluation revealed RNFL thickness in the inferior and temporal quadrants for right and left eyes were statistically lower in ET group. Correlation analysis revealed a negative association between duration of ET and RNFL thickness in the temporal quadrant in both eyes.
Conclusion: Supporting the neurodegenerative theory, ET patients, demonstrated a selective inferior and temporal retinal involvement correlated with the disease duration. OCT may also be an invaluable biomarker for evaluating these patients, in addition to its use in other neurodegenerative disorders.
Keywords : Essential tremor, Neurodegenerative disorder, Optical coherence tomography, Retinal ganglion cell