Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) assessment of the healthy female canine retina and optic nerve.

Objective: To provide normative data for canine whole retinal thickness (WRT), nerve fiber layer thickness (NFL), photoreceptor layer thickness (PR), and outer nuclear layer thickness (ONL) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Animal Studied: Twelve healthy adult intact female beagles.

Procedure: Horizontal volume scans through the area dorso-temporal from the optic nerve (superior retina), and the area ventro-temporal from the optic nerve (inferior retina) were used to evaluate the thickness of retinal NFL, PR, ONL, and WRT. Peripapillary circular scans were used to evaluate NFL thickness. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the thickness of the individual layers between the superior and inferior retina (paired t-test). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the thickness of peripapillary NFL between the superior, inferior, temporal and nasal quadrants of the circle scan.

Results: The WRT, PR, and NFL thickness were greater in the superior than in the inferior retina (198.7 ± 9.6 μm vs. 164.4 ± 6.4 μm, P < 0.0001; 95.5 ± 6.5 μm vs. 78.8 ± 7.4 μm, P < 0.0001; and 26.4 ± 1.6 μm vs. 25.0 ± 1.9 μm, P = 0.0236, respectively). No statistical difference was found between the ONL thickness of the superior and inferior retina (50.1 ± 6.4 μm vs. 44.3 ± 3.6, P = 0.0578). Peripapillary NFL thickness showed a similar tendency as the linear scans, with the superior quadrant having the greatest thickness (91.26 ± 7.0 μm) and the inferior quadrant being the thinnest (76.42 ± 9.2 μm) (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Results of our in vivo studies showed significant differences between thickness values for the superior (tapetal) and inferior (nontapetal) retinal regions.