Abstract
Purpose:
Pregnancy is a known predisposing factor for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Choroidal thickness (CT) increases in patients with CSC. This study was designed to evaluate changes in CT during pregnancy.
Methods:
This was an observational study. Fourteen healthy pregnant women and seven patients with pre-eclampsia were included. Twenty-one normal subjects were also recruited. CT was measured using enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).
Results:
The mean CT values of normal subjects, healthy pregnant women, and patients with preeclampsia were 264±21.03, 274.23±18.97, and 389.79±25.13 µm, respectively (normal subjects vs. healthy gravidas: P>0.05; normal subjects vs. preeclampsia: P<0.001; healthy gravidas vs. pre-eclampsia: P<0.001). CT decreased from 381.05 ± 22.96 µm to 335.17±9.97µm 1 week after delivery in patients with pre-eclampsia.
Conclusions:
Pregnancy itself did not increase CT, whereas pre-eclampsia did appear to result in increased CT. This suggests that additional unknown factors induce hyperpermeability in pregnant women. An ophthalmic examination, including OCT, is recommended for pregnant women.
Keywords: 452 choroid •
552 imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)