Abstract
Purpose :
The microvasculature of the peripapillary choroid is an important consideration in glaucoma because short posterior ciliary arteries supply the choroid and the optic nerve head. We examined differences in the peripapillary and macular choroidal area between patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and healthy controls.
Methods :
We assessed 57 healthy controls and 42 POAG patients in a cross-sectional comparative study. We used enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) and then converted the luminal and interstitial areas to binary images using the Niblack method to obtain peripapillary and macular choroidal images. Subjects were excluded if they had any history of retinal diseases, had undergone previous laser therapy, had poor image quality due to unstable fixation, or if they had severe cataract. The association between the choroidal area and demographic and ocular characteristics were determined with univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis.
Results :
The mean age of the healthy controls and POAG patients was 64.9 ± 11.9 years (range, 40-85 years) and 67.6 ± 10.1 years (range, 34-86 years), respectively (P = 0.36). No significant differences were observed for gender (P = 0.16), IOP (P = 0.06), axial length (P = 0.07), or OPP (P = 0.85). Regarding the peripapillary choroidal area, no significant differences were noted between healthy controls and POAG patients (1,836,336 ± 605,617 μm2 vs. 1,775,566 ± 477,317 μm2, respectively, P = 0.60). We also found no differences in the macular choroidal area (controls: 347,220 ± 115,409 μm2, patients: 342,193 ± 104,356 μm2, P = 0.83). With multivariate regression analysis, we identified a correlation between the macular choroidal area and the axial length (β = −0.458, P = 0.005) and age (β = −0.525, P = 0.02) in POAG patients. In contrast, no correlation was found between peripapillary choroidal areas and various attributes in the POAG patients.
Conclusions :
EDI-OCT showed no differences in the peripapillary or macular choroidal area in healthy individuals compared to POAG patients.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.