Evaluation of retinal nerve fiber layer, macular, and choroidal thickness in schizophrenia: spectral optic coherence tomography findings

OBJECTIVES: The study was performed to evaluate the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macular, and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS: Fifty-nine schizophrenic patients and 36 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in this cross-sectional clinical study. The RNFL, macular, and SFCT thickness measurements obtained by SD-OCT were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The mean age of 59 patients included in this study was 34.64 years and the mean age of 36 healthy controls was 32.08 years, mean illness duration was 10.33 years, mean total Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) score was 75.18, and mean CGI-S score was 3.88. Macular thickness in the superior inner (350.97 +/- 16.51 vs. 341.81 +/- 16.35), nasal inner (348.97 +/- 17.53 vs. 340.25 +/- 17.55), inferior inner (345.5 +/- 17.59 vs. 335.47 +/- 16.92), temporal inner (333.28 +/- 17.96 vs. 321.97 +/- 19.96), and temporal outer (289.14 +/- 14.10 vs. 281.29 +/- 15.31) segments were significantly decreased in schizophrenic patients. However; RNFL thickness and choroidal thickness (CT) measurements between the two groups were similar. No significant correlation was found between illness duration, PANSS score, CGI-S score and RNFL thickness and macular thickness measurements. There was a weak negative correlation between disease duration and CT. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study suggest that macular thickness measurements are reduced in schizophrenic patients but do not indicate any significant change in RNFL or choroids. Further studies are needed to determine the potential application of optical coherence tomography as a tool for the diagnosis and monitoring the progression of this disease.