Purpose:
To evaluate and describe choroidal thickness and the morphology of choroidal capillaries in healthy subjects with respect to age
Methods:
The images were obtained by using a spectral-domain OCT device (HRA+OCT Spectrails® Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg Germany). One horizontal scan with foveal fixation and of 9,1mm compromised of 100 averaged scans with activated EDI modus was used for analysis. The distance between Bruchs membrane/RPE complex and choroid/scleral junction at the fovea was measured. Additionally foveal retinal thickness and the morphology between Bruchs membrane/RPE complex and the larger choroidal vessels were assessed. All parameters were obtained for 3 groups aged 20-30 (group 1), 30-50 (group 2) and 50-99 (group3) years
Results:
The mean subfoveal thickness was 359,16µm (stdev. 135,42) for group 1, 327,91µm (stdev. 93,7) for group 2 and 275,92µm (stdev. 91,11) for group 3. Thickness between Bruch/RPE complex and larger choroidal vessels (choriocapillaris) was 79µm for group 1, 114,4 µm for group 2 and 83,5µm for group3. Central retinal thickness as well showed a decrease with age from 264µm in group1 to 228µm in group3
Conclusions:
Choroidal thickness and morphology of the area between Bruch/RPE complex and larger choroidal vessels (choriocapillaris) can be measured using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral domain optical coherence tomography. The interindividual deviations in this healthy population are rather large demonstrated by a large standard deviation. There seems to be a trend towards decreasing overall chorioidal thickness with age. Thickness of the chorioidal capillary region did not demonstrate this trend
Keywords: imaging/image analysis: clinical • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • choroid