Correlations between local peripapillary choroidal thickness and axial length, optic disc tilt, and papillo-macular position in young healthy eyes

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has made it possible for clinicians to measure the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) noninvasively in various ocular diseases. However, the ocular factors associated with the ppCT have not been conclusively determined. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the local ppCT and the axial length, optic disc tilt, and the angle of the papillo-macular position (PMP) in healthy eyes. This was a prospective, observational cross-sectional study of 119 right eyes of 119 healthy Japanese volunteers. The ppCT was manually measured at eight sectors around the optic disc using the B-scan images of the Topcon 3D OCT RNFL 3.4 mm circle scan. The trajectory of the retinal pigment epithelium in the B-scan image was fitted to a sine curve using ImageJ, and the amplitude of the sine curve was used to determine the degree of the optic disc tilt. The PMP angle was determined in the color fundus photographs. The relationships between the ppCT and the axial length, the optic disc tilt, and PMP angle were determined by Spearman and multiple correlation analyses. The mean age was 25.8 ± 3.9 years and the mean axial length was 25.5 ± 1.4 mm. The ppCT was significantly and negatively associated with the axial length (R = -0.43 to -0.24, P<0.01) and positively associated with the PMP angle (R = 0.28 to 0.37, P<0.01) in all eight circumpapillary sectors. The temporal and infratemporal ppCTs were significantly and negatively associated with the optic disc tilt (R = -0.31, -0.20, P<0.05). The results of multiple regression analyses were similar to that of Spearman correlation analysis. In conclusion, the axial length and PMP angle can affect the ppCT in all circumferential sectors, however the tilt of the optic disc is correlated with only some of the sectors. This should be remembered in interpreting the ppCT.

Bruch’s membrane opening enlargement and its implication on the myopic optic nerve head

“…In myopic eyes with axial lengths between 26 and 27 mm, pCT was thinnest at the temporal-inferior sector. Our finding agrees with those of previous reports 33,34 . Gupta et al .…”

Impact of the Morphologic Characteristics of Optic Disc on Choroidal Thickness in Young Myopic Patients

“…A previous study has suggested that the degree of optic disc tilt may increase with the elongation of AL and the temporal side of the optic disc might be stretched; this deformation may happen in eyes with or without a posterior staphyloma. 29 Many other studies have reported a significant association between the presence of posterior staphyloma and choroidal thinning in highly myopic patients. [30][31][32] Although no obvious posterior staphyloma was found in the young myopia patients in the present study, subclinical staphylomas are sometimes observed in this population.…”

A comparison of choroidal thicknesses between pachychoroid and normochoroid eyes acquired from wide‐field swept‐source OCT

“…Previous studies have reported that axial length is significantly correlated with CT. Population‐based studies reported that myopic eyes had thinner subfoveal and peripapillary areas (Wei et al 2013; Jiang et al 2015), which were confirmed by other studies (Gupta et al 2015; Liu et al 2018; Duan et al 2019). Yamashita et al (2017) measured the peripapillary CT in eight sectors using a 3.4 mm circle scan and concluded that axial length showed a negative association with all circumferential sectors. In the present study, there was a significant negative correlation between axial length and several points of the CT, including the macular area (nasal 4, 5 and 6 and temporal 1, 2 and 3) and 2700 μm away from the nasal optic disc margin, which is consistent with previous reports.…”