The Distribution of the Photoreceptor Outer Segment Length in a Healthy Population

Purpose. to evaluate the effects of age and sex on the photoreceptor outer segment (pros) length in healthy eyes,using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (sd-oct). methods. a total of 97 eyes of 97 healthy participants (spherical equivalent < ±1 diopters [d]) were scanned with sd-oct. the patients were divided into 3 groups by age: group 1 (0-20 years),group 2 (21-40 years),and group 3 (41-60 years). the pros length was defined as the distance from the inner surface of is/os (inner segment/outer segment) band to the inner surface of retinal pigment epithelium (rpe). results. the mean pros length was 52.01 ± 3.79 μm in females and 53.41 ± 3.37 μm in males (p=0.061). the mean pros length of the different groups was 53.70 ± 3.18 μm (0-20 years),52.14 ± 3.64 μm (21-40 years),and 52.20 ± 3.95 μm (41-60 years) (p=0.155; anova test). multiple linear regression analysis revealed a -0.039 μm decline in pros length per year (p=0.074) and a -1.408 μm decline in females (p=0.055). conclusion. the difference in pros length was not statistically significant neither for age nor for gender; females tended to have a lower pros length than males,and pros length was slightly higher in the first two decades of life. © 2017 gamze maden et al.