In vivo images of retinal structure and relation to visual function in hereditary retinal degenerations

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a new technique for non-invasive non-contact cross-sectional imaging of the human retina. The authors investigated the relationship between OCT images and visual function in hereditary retinal degenerations. OCTs suggest abnormalities mainly at the level and sclerad to the retinal pigment epithelium and reductions in “retinal” thickness. These findings correlate well with the levels of dysfunction in these retinal regions and are in keeping with expectations from retinal histopathology of postmortem donor tissue. In vivo imaging of retinal structure holds promise as a complement to clinical and visual function evaluations in the diagnosis of retinal degenerations and monitoring of future treatment trials