To determine whether retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macula and macular ganglion cell layer (mGCL)-inner plexiform layer (IPL) thickness differ in the amblyopic and normal fellow eyes of unilateral amblyopic patients using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

80 patients with 160 eyes were included in this study; the distribution of patients was 17 patients with strabismic amblyopia, 17 patients with strabismic non-amblyopia, 23 patients with anisometropic amblyopia, and 23 patients with anisometropic non-amblyopia. Macular, RNFL, and mGCL-IPL thickness were obtained by SD-OCT, and the interocular thickness differences of each group were analyzed. After treatment, the changes of OCT parameters were evaluated in amblyopic patients.

Average macular, average RNFL, and average mGCL-IPL thickness of amblyopic eyes were thicker than for normal fellow eyes in amblyopic patients (40 patients total; p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.002, respectively). In 23 patients with anisometropic amblyopia, average macular, average RNFL, and average mGCL-IPL thickness of amblyopic eyes were thicker than the normal fellow eye ( p = 0.008, p < 0.001, p = 0.002). In the 17 patients with strabismic amblyopia, average macular and average RNFL thickness of amblyopic eyes were thicker than the normal fellow eye ( p =0.016, p < 0.006, respectively). No interocular thickness differences were observed in the control groups. Interocular differences between amblyopic and normal eyes remained unchanged after the amblyopic eyes were treated.

Average RNFL and average mGCL-IPL thickness of amblyopic eyes were thicker than normal fellow eyes, but no differences were observed for macular in amblyopic patients. There was no change in the OCT parameter in amblyopic eyes after treatment.