State of science: Choroidal thickness and systemic health

Retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell complex, and choroidal thicknesses in migraine

“…The choroid is one of the most vascularized regions of the human body. Therefore, any local, systemic, or environmental factor that affects the vascular tract may have significant influences on CT. For instance, menstrual cycle and pregnancy may significantly affect CT (2) . The paper indicated that the mean age of the 45 participants was 36.1 ± 6.5 years (ranging between 20 and 45 years), and 37 of them were female.…”

“…Ulaş et al showed that CT decreased by 6.47% between early follicular and mid-luteal phases and by 2.64% between early follicular and ovulatory phases (3) . Although the effect of pregnancy on CT has been debated in the literature, some studies have demonstrated significantly increased CT during pregnancy, particularly during the second trimester (2) . Accordingly, we would like to ask the authors whether they considered the menstrual cycle and pregnancy status of the female participants.…”

Choroidal thickness measurements in migraine patients during attack-free period

“…As the authors have already mentioned, a number of local and systemic physiological and pathological conditions may affect CT. Choroidal thickness shows diurnal variation, and it has been shown in the literature that systemic and local diseases and their treatment, menstrual cycle, some drugs, smoking, intraocular pressure, and a number of other factors affect CT [2,3]. Although Karaca et al mentioned some factors in their study, we would like to ask the authors some important points.…”

“…We also wonder whether the body mass indices of the patients or the lightening conditions of the test room were considered since all those parameters significantly affect CT [2,3].…”

Reply to a letter to the editor: Diabetic Retinal Pigment Epitheliopathy: Fundus Autofluorescence and Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Findings

“…We reported that eyes with diabetic retinal pigment epitheliopathy (DRPE) showed decreased visual acuity, thinning of the outer retina, and thickened choroid than did eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Choroidal thickness (CT), which was one of the clinical parameters evaluated in our study, could be influenced by many factors, as Uzun et al have pointed out [2]. As our study was limited by its retrospective design, local/systemic and environmental factors affecting CT could not be evaluated owing to limited data availability.…”