Computer-Assisted Evaluation of Retinal Vessel Diameter in Retinitis Pigmentosa

Purpose: The evaluation of retinal vessel attenuation is very subjective and not sufficiently reliable in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). We tested semiautomatic software capable of obtaining real-time measurements of vessel diameter. Methods: Retinal vessel diameter was calculated in 25 RP subjects and in 20 healthy controls. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the average values of RP patients with those of controls and subgroups of RP patients with different clinical features. Results: The retinal vessel diameter was significantly smaller in RP patients than in controls (p Conclusions: Computer-assisted analysis of retinal fundus pictures may be helpful in the diagnosis of RP and in monitoring disease progression.