Abstract
Purpose :
Choroidal involution has been demonstrated during oxygen induced retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in an animal model while choroidal thickness (ChT) is observed to be thinner in older preterm children using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).
We describe in vivo ChT during development in preterm infants with and without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) using hand-held spectral domain optical coherence tomography (HH-SDOCT).
Methods :
Cross sectional and longitudinal HH SD-OCT retinal images (n= 203) were acquired from 65 preterm infants with (n=20) and without (n=45) ROP at 1-2 weekly intervals from 31 to 42 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA). Participants were recruited from the neonatal unit while also undergoing ophthalmic screening for ROP. No infant had received treatment for ROP at the time of scanning. HH SD-OCT (Bioptigen, 2.6μm axial resolution) scans were performed without sedation and after dilatation of pupils. Customised Image J manual segmentation of ChT at the fovea and up to 1500μm nasally and temporally was performed and quantified. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model.
Results :
The difference between the mean ChT in ROP (259.67μm SD +65.57) and no ROP (256.33μm SD +81.48) was not statistically significant (p=0.681). There was evidence of a complex relationship between the mean ChT with location and PMA. An elevation of the outer plexiform layer (OPL) at the fovea had a significantly reduced mean ChT (251.92μm SD +70.77) compared with no elevation (259.71μm SD+77.86) (p<0.001).
Conclusions :
In preterm infants, ROP was not associated with significant differences in overall mean ChT compared to no ROP, but ChT varied according to location across the central retina and PMA. A disturbance of the OPL at the fovea appeared to significantly decrease mean ChT but the significance of this is not yet clear.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.