Choroidal thickness profile in healthy Indian children

Abstract

Purpose:The purpose was to study choroidal thickness and its profile based on location in healthy Indian children using enhanced depth spectral-domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).Methods:In this cross-sectional observational study 255 eyes of 136 children with no retinal or choroidal disease were consecutively scanned using enhanced depth SD-OCT. Eyes with any ocular disease or axial length (AXL) >25 mm or < 20 mm were excluded. A single observer measured choroidal thickness from the posterior edge of the retinal pigment epithelium to the choroid/sclera junction at 500-microns intervals up to 2500 microns temporal and nasal to the fovea. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the correlation between choroidal thickness at various locations and age, AXL, gender and spherical equivalent (SEq).Results:Mean age of the subjects was 11.9 ± 3.4 years (range: 5–18 years). There were 62 Females and 74 males. The mean AXL was 23.55 ± 0.74 mm. Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness was 312.1 ± 45.40 μm. Choroid was found to be thickest subfoveally, then temporally. Age, AXL and SEq showed a significant correlation with choroidal thickness, whereas gender did not affect choroidal thickness.Conclusion:Our study provides a valid normative database of choroidal thickness in healthy Indian children. This database could be useful for further studies evaluating choroidal changes in various chorioretinal disorders. Age and AXL are critical factors, which negatively correlated with choroidal thickness.

Does the treatment of amblyopia normalise subfoveal choroidal thickness in amblyopic children?

“…To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate that the recovery of amblyopia had no significant effect on choroidal thickness. In our study, as in previous studies, choroidal thickness was significantly correlated with axial length. Therefore, it can be stated that the thickening of the choroid that has been found previously in the eyes with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia may be an artefact of the correlation between choroidal thickness and hyperopia.…”

“…In addition, Mori and colleagues speculated that choroidal accommodation might be inhibited with the diminutive visual feedback in the amblyopic eye; however, in all of these studies, amblyopic eyes were more hyperopic than the control eyes and it was not clear whether this choroidal thickening resulted from amblyopia or hyperopia. It has been demonstrated that there is a positive correlation between SE and choroidal thickness and a negative correlation between axial length and choroidal thickness . To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate that the recovery of amblyopia had no significant effect on choroidal thickness.…”

“…Several experimental studies imposed myopic or hyperopic defocus in some animal species and found that to maintain image clarity, these animals rapidly changed their choroidal thickness to adjust the retinal position . Hyperopic defocus forced by negative lenses caused considerably increased ocular elongation and a slight choroidal thinning, while myopic defocus forced by positive lenses caused a dramatic choroidal thickening, which pushed the retina forward toward the image plane and a slight decrease in ocular elongation; however, clinical studies have demonstrated that the choroid is thicker in more hyperopic subjects and is thinner in more myopic subjects . Read and colleagues compared choroidal thickness of myopic and non‐myopic children's eyes and found that myopic children's eyes had thinner choroids compared to non‐myopic children's eyes.…”

Evaluation of Choroidal Thickness in Children With Iron Deficiency Anemia

“…Ruiz-Moreno et al 29 reported that the temporal choroid was thicker than the subfoveal choroid in the pediatric population. On the other hand, Chhablani et al 30 reported that subfoveal choroid was thicker than temporal choroid. Consistent with their study, in our study the subfoveal choroid was thicker than the temporal choroid.…”

Evaluation of Choroidal Thickness in Normal Eyes Using Enhanced Depth Optical Coherence Tomography

“…A wide variation in choroidal thickness was reported in various studies. Even in comparision with Indian studies 15,17 our measurement of choroidal thickness is significantly higher. This could be due to differences in Choroidal thickness in the inferior quadrant is lesser at all corresponding points compared to superior quadrant The average choroidal thickness in the superior quadrant observed in this study is 350.91 μm, which was not significantly different from the choroidal thickness in the subfoveal region.…”