Evaluation of Central Macula, Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer, and Ganglion Cell Complex Thickness in Congenital Color Vision Deficiency.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the thickness of the central macula, the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and the ganglion cell complex (GCC) in individuals with congenital red-green color vision deficiency (CVD) using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Methods: This study included 22 males with a red-green CVD (Group 1) and 22 males with normal color vision (Group 2). The Ishihara test was used to determine CVD. SD-OCT was used to evaluate the central macula, RNFL, and GCC measurements of all of the study participants. The quantitative data of the 2 groups were compared. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for the statistical analysis and a p value <0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The mean central macula thickness observed in Group 1 and 2 was 255.00±25.50 µm and 248.95±24.70 µm, respectively. The mean RNFL thickness of Group 1 and 2 was 110.66±14.70 µm and 109.49±9.90 µm, respectively, and the mean GCC thickness of Group 1 and 2 was 97.70±10.80 µm and 97.56±5.10 µm, respectively. There were no significant differences between the groups in the assessment of the central macula, RNFL, or GCC thickness (p=0.20, p=0.34, p=0.37).

Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that congenital red-green CVD does not affect the thickness of the central macula, RNFL, or GCC. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the thickness of the GCC in individuals with congenital red-green CVD.