Optic coherence tomography evaluation of macula after external beam radiotherapy

Abstract

AimIn this study, we aimed to investigate the optic coherence tomography findings in patients who received external beam radiotherapy.MethodAll consecutive subjects applied to the radiation oncology department due to head, neck or brain tumors were enrolled prospectively into the study. Macula radiation dose and eye dose were calculated from dose-volume histogram plot curve. Eyes were evaluated with regard to macular thickness with optical coherence tomography at the baseline and 6th month after the radiotherapy.ResultsA total of 32 eyes of 16 patients were included in the study. The mean macula dose was 1780 ± 1403 cGy, maximum macula dose was 2059 ± 1479 cGy and the mean eye dose was 1015 ± 784 cGy. Among 16 patients, macular edema was developed in one patient (6,25%) 18 weeks after the radiotherapy. Apart from this patient, no other patient developed any kind of retinal complication regarding the radiotherapy during 6 months follow up. The retina showed no change with regard to the studied parameters during the study period (P < .05). ConclusionOCT is an effective way to determine early changes in patients undergoing radiotherapy and it enables prompt diagnosis of early clinical macular edema. This study is of significance in that our patients didn’t get direct retinal radiation therapy during 6-months follow-up. Long-term studies with a larger cohort group will yield more suggestive data on this clinical entity.

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