Effect of Bergmeister papilla on disc parameters in spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Abstract Background: To demonstrate the morphological characteristics of Bergmeister papilla (BMP), a persistent hyaloid remnant tissue, and its effects on the measurements and repeatability of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was used to collect 83 patients with BMP and 76 age-matched unaffected individuals from a tertiary care institution. Imaging including 5-line raster and 3 consecutive optic disc cube scans centered on the optic disc were acquired using the Cirrus HD-OCT. Structural characteristics of BMP were classified according to the images of raster scans, and the repeatability of optic nerve head and retinal nerve fiber layer parameters was analyzed by calculating the test-retest standard deviation, coefficient of variance, and intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: BMP was categorized into lifting edge (LE) type where does not cover the entire optic nerve head, but partially covers the corners, and covering disc (CD) type in which covers the entire cupping area like a cap. Among the BMP of 83 eyes, 58 (63.9%) were lifting edge type and 33 (36.1%) were CD type, and some of the optic nerve head parameters in OCT showed significant differences between the CD and LE types and normal control eyes. The analysis of repeatability showed that eyes with LE types affected cup volume and nasal retinal nerve fiber layer parameters and correlated with BMP location. Conclusion: Because BMP might be a pitfall in OCT imaging, it is necessary to be careful when interpreting OCT in an eye with BMP.