Choroidal Thickness in Childhood

Abstract

PURPOSE. We examined choroidal thickness (ChT) and its spatial distribution across the posterior pole in pediatric subjects with normal ocular health and minimal refractive error. METHODS.ChT was assessed using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in 194 children aged 4 to 12 years, with spherical equivalent refractive errors between þ1.25 and À0.50 diopters sphere (DS). A series of OCT scans were collected, imaging the choroid along 4 radial scan lines centered on the fovea (each separated by 458). Frame averaging was used to reduce noise and enhance chorioscleral junction visibility. The transverse scale of each scan was corrected to account for magnification effects associated with axial length. Two independent masked observers segmented the OCT images manually to determine ChT at foveal center, and averaged across a series of perifoveal zones over the central 5 mm.RESULTS. The average subfoveal ChT was 330 6 65 lm (range, 189-538 lm), and was influenced significantly by age (P ¼ 0.04). The ChT of the 4-to 6-year-old age group (312 6 62 lm) was significantly thinner compared to the 7-to 9-year-olds (337 6 65 lm, P < 0.05) and bordered on significance compared to the 10-to 12-year-olds (341 6 61 lm, P ¼ 0.08). ChT also exhibited significant variation across the posterior pole, being thicker in more central regions. The choroid was thinner nasally and inferiorly compared to temporally and superiorly. Multiple regression analysis revealed age, axial length, and anterior chamber depth were associated significantly with subfoveal ChT (P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS. ChT increases significantly from early childhood to adolescence. This appears to be a normal feature of childhood eye growth.

Association of choroidal thickness with eye growth: a cross-sectional study of individuals between 4 and 23 years

“…[15][16][17][18][19] Also, there is recent data on the hemodynamic effect of chemicals-sildenafil and nicotine-on choroid, obtained by OCT. 20,21 In our population of 160 patients aged 4-23 years, we found a mean SFCT of 308 mm with substantial variation between individuals, which was consistent with previous studies in adults. 4,22 Recent studies examining in vivo choroidal thickness with OCT in children have reported mean SFCT values of 348 mm (in 48 Korean children aged 4-10 years), 9 330 mm (in 194 children aged 4-12 years), 10 and 342 mm (in 174 children aged 3.5-15 years). 11 Among these studies, only Park et al reported a negative correlation between SFCT and age.…”

“…8 However, although our understanding of choroidal characteristics has increased substantially in recent years, only a few reports to date have provided values for choroidal thickness in children. [9][10][11] Recently, an increase in choroidal thickness with age but an inverse correlation of choroidal thickness with AL was also reported in healthy children aged 3.5-14.9 years. 11 Improved evaluation of normal choroidal thicknesses during eye growth should assist in the diagnosis of choroidal abnormalities associated with eye disease, and also allow us to understand the differences in the choroid during normal eye growth and the development of refractive error.…”

Validity of Automated Choroidal Segmentation in SS-OCT and SD-OCT

“…It has been also reported that choroidal thickness increases during childhood and decreases during adulthood. 5,6 Accurately and automatically measuring choroidal thickness is therefore of great interest. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) provides a cross-sectional, three-dimensional (3D), microscale depiction of ocular tissues 7 and clearly distinguishable retinal layers, as shown in Figure 1.…”

Anisometropia and Anisometropic Amblyopia (Literature Review)

“…Одна-ко Read и соавт. показали, что у детей 4-6 лет толщина хориоидеи достоверно меньше, чем у детей 7-9 лет [37]. При этом обе группы авторов сходятся во мнении, что профиль хориоидеи у детей значительно варьирует.…”