gms | German Medical Science

25th Annual Meeting of the German Retina Society

German Retina Society

01.06. - 02.06.2012, Münster

Structural and functional changes in the macula during acute exposure to high altitude

Meeting Abstract

  • Gabriel Willmann - Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen
  • M.D. Fischer - Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen
  • A. Schatz - Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen
  • K. Schommer - Medizinische Klinik, Abteilung für Sportmedizin, Universität Heidelberg
  • E. Zrenner - Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen
  • K.U. Bartz-Schmidt - Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen
  • F. Gekeler - Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen

German Retina Society. 25th Annual Conference of the German Retina Society. Münster, 01.-02.06.2012. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2012. Doc12rg41

doi: 10.3205/12rg41, urn:nbn:de:0183-12rg419

This is the English version of the article.
The German version can be found at: http://www.egms.de/de/meetings/rg2012/12rg41.shtml

Published: May 30, 2012

© 2012 Willmann et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

Purpose: This study aimed to quantify structural and functional changes of the macula during acute exposure to high altitude.

Methods: Spectral domain optical coherence tomography, fundus controlled microperimetry and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were used to quantify changes of central retinal structure and function in 14 healthy subjects during acute exposure to high altitude (4,559 m). Data from high-resolution macular volume scans and central microperimetry were analyzed for all 9 subfields of the ETDRS grid.

Results: Longitudinal analysis revealed increased total retinal thickness (TRT) in all four peripheral ETDRS grid subfields during acute altitude exposure (TRTperiphery = 2.80±2.16 μm; mean±95%CI). This change is inverted towards the central four subfields (TRTcentral =–1.89±2.05 μm) with significant reduction of TRT in the foveola (TRTfoveola = –6.62±1.92 μm) at altitude. BCVA revealed no significant difference compared to baseline (–0.04±0.10 logMAR) and microperimetry showed stable mean retinal sensitivity in all but the foveolar subfield (MSfoveolar = –1.38±1.15 dB). At baseline recordings >2 weeks after high altitude exposure, all subjects reached prior levels with no persisting structural or functional sequels.

Conclusion: For the first time, using a quantitative approach during acute high altitude exposure, significant changes of TRT in the central retina of healthy subjects were demonstrated. The gradient from central reduction to peripheral increase of TRT reflects the relatively higher contribution of nerve fibers and vessels to the TRT in peripheral ETDRS subfields. The observed structural changes did not have an impact on key functional outcome measures such as BCVA and retinal mean sensitivity