FEATURES OF THE MACULA AND CENTRAL VISUAL FIELD AND FIXATION PATTERN IN PATIENTS WITH RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA

Purpose: To evaluate macular features and fixation pattern in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) compared with healthy controls, using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and MP-1 microperimetry.

Methods: Eighty-one eyes of 81 patients with RP and 90 eyes of 90 healthy subjects were assessed. The central foveal thickness, subfoveal choroidal thickness, ellipsoid zone length, and the mean retinal sensitivities and fixation characteristics were evaluated by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and MP-1 microperimetry.

Results: Compared with healthy subjects, patients with central macular thinning had lower best corrected visual acuity, central foveal thickness, ellipsoid zone length, retinal sensitivity, and visual field than patients with cystoid macular edema or no macular change (all P < 0.001). Correlations between fixation characteristics and best corrected visual acuity, central foveal thickness, ellipsoid zone length, retinal sensitivity, and visual field were statistically significant (all P < 0.001). Patients with no macular change had more centralized and stabilized fixation than patients with central foveal thinning and cystoid macular edema.

Conclusion: The spectrum of macular features from the nearly normal retina to complete chorioretinal atrophy can be seen in RP patients without associations with age or duration of symptoms. Unlike other macular degenerations, most patients with RP obtained at least a central 2° of visual field, with foveal and stable fixation.