Macular abnormalities in Italian patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Aim To investigate the prevalence of macular abnormalities in a large Caucasian cohort of patients affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Methods A retrospective study was performed by reviewing the medical records and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans in a cohort of 581 RP patients in order to assess the presence of macular abnormalities-that is, cystoid macular oedema (CMO), epiretinal membrane (ERM), vitreo-macular traction syndrome, and macular hole. Results Macular abnormalities were observed in 524 (45.1%) out of the 1161 examined eyes. The most frequent abnormality was CMO, observed in 237 eyes (20.4%) from 133 patients (22.9%), followed by ERM, assessed in 181 eyes (15.6%) from 115 patients (19.8%). Moreover, vitreo-retinal abnormalities were significantly (p<0.05) associated with older age, cataract surgery, or cataract. CMO appeared to be significantly (p<0.05) associated with female gender, autosomic dominant inheritance pattern, and cataract. Conclusions Macular abnormalities are more frequent in RP compared to the general population. For that reason, screening RP patients with OCT is highly recommended to follow-up the patients, evaluate the natural history of disease, and identify those patients who could benefit from current or innovative therapeutic strategies.