Abstract

Retinal health plays a pivotal role in vision performance, and fundus retinal imaging is used as a routine procedure for clinical assessment of the retinal health. Presence of prominent opalescent sheen in the retinal nerve fiber layer before adolescence has been regarded as normal, and the retinal nerve fiber layer gradually loses its opalescence as the individual progresses to adulthood. The effects of gradual loss of opalescence on visual performance and clinicallyassessed parameters and its relation to eye use habits are largely unknown. This study recruited a total of 32 volunteers aged more than 16 years and assessed their visual acuity, intraocular pressure, spherical and cylindrical refractions, dominant eye, color vision, stereovision, and light flash recovery period, along with fundus photography. A questionnaire was used to assess their habits of eye use. The presence of prominent opalescent sheen was correlated with the assessed parameters. The results revealed that the total area of opalescent sheen in the retinal nerve fiber layer is positively correlated with visual acuity (correlation coefficient at 0.153; p value=0.279), intraocular ocular pressure (correlation coefficient at 0.263; p value=0.059, stereopsis (correlation coefficient at 0.069; p value=0.635). More specifically, when the area of opalescent sheen was sub-divided into center, upper, lower, nasal, and temporal sections, with the macula center as the center of the circle, the area of opalescent sheen in the nasal section was significantly correlated with intraocular ocular pressure (correlation coefficient at 0.312; p value=0.024). The results of this study will provide baseline information for further analysis.

Keywords: Retinal nerve fiber layer; Opalescent sheen; Visual performance; Visual assessment parameters; Eye use habits