AIM: To measure the posterior pole retinal thickness and retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL)thickness using the Heidelberg spectral domain optical coherence(SD-OCT), and explore the correlation between age, refraction diopter and retinal thickness.

METHODS: A total of 192 eyes of 96 healthy children with the age from 5 to 15 years old were examined by routine ophthalmic examinations. The SD-OCT of Spectralis Heidelberg was used to examine the thickness of the posterior retina and optic nerve fibers of the subjects within 20° and this district was divided to superior and inferior by the line collecting optic disc and macula. The detection was taken within the area of 1mm away the macular fovea. The correlation between age, refraction diopter and change of retinal morphology were analyzed.

RESULTS: The average thickness of the retina around 1mm area from the fovea was 252.72±13.87μm, the mean posterior pole retinal thickness(PPRT)was 294.02±8.70μm, the superior PPRT was 294.53±9.11μm, the inferior PPRT was 293.53±9.50μm, and the average RNFL thickness was 105.75±10.60μm. There were positive correlation between age and PPRT, and positive correlation between diopter, PPRT and RNFL thickness.

CONCLUSION: SD-OCT can accurately measure the thickness of children's retina, and there is a correlation between age, refractive diopter and retinal thickness.