Choroidal Structure in Children with Anisohypermetropic Amblyopia Determined by Binarization of Optical Coherence Tomographic Images

Abstract

PurposeTo compare the choroidal structure of the subfoveal area in the eyes of children with anisohypermetropic amblyopia to that of the fellow eyes and to age-matched controls using a binarization method of the images obtained by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).MethodsThis study was performed at Nara Medical University Hospital, Tokushima University Hospital, and Kagoshima University Hospital, Japan. Forty amblyopic eyes with anisohypermetropic amblyopia and their fellow eyes (5.9 ± 2.1 years, mean ± standard deviation), and 103 age-matched controls (6.7 ± 2.4 years) were studied. The control eyes were divided into myopic, emmetropic, and hyperopic eyes. The total choroidal area, luminal area and stromal area of the subfoveal choroid were measured by the binarization method. The luminal/stromal ratio and the axial length of the amblyopic eyes were compared to that of the control eyes.ResultsThe total choroidal area in the amblyopic eyes was significantly larger than that of the fellow eyes (P = 0.005). The luminal/stromal ratio was significantly larger in the amblyopic eyes than that of the fellow eyes (P<0.001) and the control hyperopic eyes (P<0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between the luminal/stromal ratio and the axial length in the control eyes (r = -0.30, P = 0.001), but no significant correlation was found in the amblyopic eyes.ConclusionsThe choroidal structure of the amblyopic eyes was different from that of the fellow and the control hyperopic eyes. The choroidal changes are related to amblyopia.

Effect of optical correction on choroidal structure in children with anisohypermetropic amblyopia

“…[5] The choroidal area of twenty-four of these 29 amblyopic patients and 13 controls before treatment have also been reported. [4] The mean BCVA at the baseline was 0.46 ± 0.26 logMAR units in the amblyopic eyes, -0.01 ± 0.08 logMAR units in the fellow eyes, and -0.05 ± 0.05 logMAR units in the control eyes (Tables 1 and 2). The mean refractive error was +4.14 ± 1.92 diopters (D) in the amblyopic eyes and +0.17 ± 1.00 D in the control eyes (Tables 1 and 2).…”

“…[1] We recently reported that the retinal microstructures and the choroidal structures in anisohypermetropic amblyopic eyes of children were significantly different from that of normal eyes. [2][3][4] Furthermore, wearing corrective lenses for one year improved the visual acuity and induced changes of the retinal microstructures in eyes with anisohypermetropic amblyopia. [5] The question then arose as to whether there are structural changes of the choroid after wearing optical correction in children with anisohypermetropic amblyopia.…”

“…[5] Moreover, we reported that the choroidal structure in the amblyopic eyes was different from in the control eyes. [4] However, whether optical treatment will alter the choroidal structures has not been determined.…”

Changes in choroidal blood flow and choroidal thickness after treatment in two cases of pediatric anisohypermetropic amblyopia

“…demonstrated that central choroidal thickness (CCT) was greater in amblyopic eyes than in fellow eyes in children. 6 However, to the best of our knowledge, a long-duration time course of choroidal blood flow (CBF) in anisohypermetropic amblyopia before and after treatment has not yet been investigated. In the present case series, we describe the CBF changes in two cases of anisohypermetropic amblyopia in children.…”

Regional Differences of Choroidal Structure Determined by Wide-Field Optical Coherence Tomography

“…10,11 Subsequently, many researchers have used this technique and have reported that specific structural changes can be associated with the progression of various ocular diseases. [10][11][12][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Recently, there have been several reports on the choroidal structure in OCT images. Branchini et al 32 reported that the choroidal luminal area was larger than the stromal area.…”