Choroidal Thickness in Healthy Japanese Subjects

Abstract

Purpose. To study posterior choroidal thickness and its profile based on location in healthy Japanese subjects and the correlation with axial length, refractive error (RE), and age. Methods. Eighty-six eyes of 43 healthy volunteers with no ophthalmic or systemic symptoms were examined with prototype high-penetration optical coherence tomography using a 1060-nm light source. Eyes with high myopia (exceeding -6 D) or with retinal/choroidal disease were excluded. The spherical equivalent RE was measured by autorefractometry, and the axial length was measured by partial coherence inferometry. Results. Mean choroidal thicknesses were 354 +/- 111 mum at the fovea, 364 +/- 86 mum superiorly, 345 +/- 108 mum inferiorly, 227 +/- 532 mum nasally, and 337 +/- 102 mum temporally. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was significantly greater than nasal (P < 0.01) and temporal (P < 0.05) choroidal thickness; however, there was no significant difference compared with superior (P = 0.20) and inferior (P = 0.17) choroidal thickness. The temporal choroid was significantly (P < 0.01) thicker than the nasal choroid, and the inferior choroid was significantly (P < 0.01) thinner than the superior choroid. There was a significant negative correlation between foveal choroidal thickness and axial length (P < 0.05) but a borderline correlation with the RE (P = 0.086) and age (P = 0.07). Age was the factor that was most associated with the choroidal thickness (F = 20.86; P < 0.001), followed by RE (F = 5.37; P < 0.05); axial length was not a significant factor (F = 1.47; P = 0.22) by stepwise analysis. Conclusions. The profile of choroidal thickness depends on its location. RE, axial length, and especially age are critical for evaluation of choroidal thickness.

Enhanced Depth Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography of the Choroid in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion

“…Figure 4 shows EDI-OCT images of the choroid of 1 eye with CRVO before and after intravitreal bevacizumab treatment. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 and 222.6 μm, respectively) in our study was less than that in the previous study, 20 this difference between the studies may have been caused by differences in the measurement software, the OCT light source, the patient profile (e.g., age). Maruko et al 3,4 performed ICGA and found that subfoveal choroidal thickness in the fellow eyes of patients with central serous chorioretinopathy was increased in the eyes with choroidal vascular hyperpermeability.…”

Retinal and Choroidal Thickness in Early Age-Related Macular Degeneration

“…The mean subfoveal choroidal thickness reported has varied between studies from 225m (SD 53m), 23 to 354nm (SD 111m). 28 The control group employed in our study was found to have a slightly lower mean subfoveal choroidal thickness of 213m (SD 63m), which may reflect the greater mean age of the participants than in most previous studies.…”

“…Multiple studies have assessed choroidal thickness in healthy individuals using the OCT, [23][24][27][28][29][30] however, only a few have used a 1060nm system. [27][28] A recent study using 1060nm OCT to investigate the correlation between axial length and choroidal thickness in 34 healthy subjects (64 eyes) aged 19-80 years, found a mean central choroidal thickness of 315m (SD 106m), with the choroid thinnest in the nasal parafovea.…”

“…[27][28] A recent study using 1060nm OCT to investigate the correlation between axial length and choroidal thickness in 34 healthy subjects (64 eyes) aged 19-80 years, found a mean central choroidal thickness of 315m (SD 106m), with the choroid thinnest in the nasal parafovea. 27 Other studies have also found choroidal thickness to be greatest at the fovea, with a greater reduction in thickness with eccentricity reported nasally than temporally, 23-24, 28, 30 a pattern reflected in our findings from both controls and individuals with early AMD.…”

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

“…2 Several recent studies using commercially available and custom-developed Fourier-domain EDI-OCT have afforded new insights into the in vivo structural characteristics of the normal adult human choroid. [3][4][5][6] The average choroidal thickness in the subfoveal region of healthy adults (over 18 years of age) is 192-354 mm. Thickening of the choroid may be mechanistically linked to the synthesis of scleral macromolecules, and thus may have important roles in the homeostatic control of eye growth and the etiologies of myopia and hyperopia.…”