Abstract
Purpose :
The water drinking test (WDT) serves as a provocative procedure for the detection of peak intraocular pressure (IOP). Previous studies have indicated a correlation between IOP spikes and choroidal engorgement subsequent to water ingestion. This preliminary study aims to examine changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness after WDT in healthy eyes utilizing swept-source OCT.
Methods :
Seven eyes from 7 subjects without any systemic or ocular diseases were included in the study (mean age: 43 ± 5.9 years). All participants underwent the WDT, which involved drinking 1 liter of water within 5 minutes following a 4-hour fasting period. Outcome measures included IOP and subfoveal choroidal thickness, assessed at baseline and at four 15-minute intervals after water ingestion using the Triton swept-source OCT (Topcon Healthcare, Tokyo, Japan). Changes over time of these parameters were evaluated using repeated measures ANOVA.
Results :
Statistically significant increases in IOP were observed at the 15 and 30-minute intervals of the WDT in all eyes (2.7 ± 0.7 mmHg at 15-min and 1.7 ± 1.9 mmHg at 30-min; all P<0.05). Mean baseline axial length was 24.35 ± 1.64 mm and a moderate positive association was noted between baseline axial length and IOP (R2 = 0.40). Mean baseline subfoveal thickness was 275 ± 77 µm. Following the WDT, choroidal thickness remained relatively stable, exhibiting a trend of decrease by a maximum of 2.7% at 45 minutes, although this change was not statistically significant (p=0.09). There was no significant association between changes in IOP and choroidal thickness (P= 0.18).
Conclusions :
No significant changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness were observed in healthy eyes following WDT. The combination of swept-source OCT with automated segmentation and analysis software proves to be a practical tool for choroidal evaluation.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Imaging in the Eye Conference, held in Seattle, WA, May 4, 2024.