Abstract
Purpose :
To analyze and investigate the choroidal characteristics associated with the presence of cystoid macular edema (CME) in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
Methods :
Retrospective cross-sectional case-control study of fifty patients with a diagnosis of RP divided into two groups based on the presence (43 eyes) or absence (57 eyes) of CME. Only patients with a subfoveal ellipsoid zone preservation of at least 500 µm were enrolled. Data collected and analyzed included clinical examination, best correct visual acuity (BCVA), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), fluorescein angiography, and enhanced depth optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). Central macular thickness (CMT) and subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) were measured by EDI-OCT. The choroidal vascularity index (CVI) was calculated in all study eyes along with total choroidal area (TCA), lumen area (LA) and stromal choroidal area (SCA).
Results :
Average age was 50.72±14.34 and 46.02±15.46 years (p=0.12) and BCVA was 0.4±0.6 and 0.3±0.5 LogMAR in group with and without CME, respectively (p=0.11). Mean CMT was 331.0 µm ± 83.3 µm in RP group with CME and 242.4 µm ± 38.0 µm in the RP group without (p < 0.001). The subfoveal CT was significantly increased in RP group with CME versus without CME (359.9µm± 83.4µmvs 237.0µm±93.6µm, respectively, p <0.001). In patients with CME the CVI was lower (p <0.001), but the TCA, LA, SCA were all significantly higher (p<0.01).
Conclusions :
In patients with CME associated with RP, the choroid exhibited significant subfoveal thickening with decreased CVI and increased TCA, LA, and SCA. This may support the involvement of the choroid in the pathophysiologic development of CME in RP.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.