Abstract
Purpose:
To analyze the choroidal volume in healthy children using Enhanced Depth Imaging (EDI) Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and to evaluate its association with age, axial length (AXL), and sex.
Methods:
Imaging study of the right eyes of 32 consecutive healthy children were reviewed and included in this study. Exclusion criteria was any systemic or ocular disease. All patients underwent a complete eye examination including best correct visual acuity, orthoptic evaluation, cycloplegic refraction, slit lamp examination and AXL measurement (IOL Master, Carl Zeiss, Germany). A 31-raster scanning protocol was performed on EDI-OCT (Spectralis, Heidelberg Engineering, Germany). The choroid was segmented manually. Choroidal volume (CV) map was automatically created by the built-in software of the device, and CV measurements were obtained applying the 6-mm diameter grid used by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS).
Results:
Patients included 11 males and 21 females. Mean age of the subjects was 10.4 ± 4.02 years (range, 2 to 17 years), and mean AXL was 23.1 ± 0.9 mm (range, 21.11 to 24.97 mm). Mean CV was 0.258 ± 0.071 mm3 for the foveal circle and 8.145 ± 1.933 mm3 for the total ETDRS grid. Mean CV was 1.565 ± 0.452, 2.069 ± 0.507, 2.195 ± 0.501 and 2.065 ± 0.509 mm3 for the nasal, superior, temporal and inferior quadrant, respectively. CV of the nasal quadrant was significantly lower than all the others (p<0.001). Total and foveal CV showed significant negative correlation with AXL after adjustment for age (both p<0.001), and significant positive correlation with age after adjustment for AXL (p=0.001 for the foveal CV and p<0.001 for the total CV, Pearson’s correlation). No correlation was found with sex. After performing linear regression analysis, the model determined by age and AXL had the best regression, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.47 for the total CV.
Conclusions:
EDI-OCT is a noninvasive and well-tolerated procedure to measure CV at the posterior pole also in children. In our pediatric population, mean CV negatively correlated with AXL, as previously reported for adult patients. Unlike what has already been described in the adult population, we observed a positive correlation between CV and age in children. This might reflect the progressive choroidal development during the childhood. A larger study is needed to better elucidate the growing process of the choroidal tissue.
Keywords: 552 imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) •
452 choroid